Bloodred Eyes
by Chibi-Reaper
Summary: A NarutoHellsing cross, maybe the first of its kind. Naruto is turned by Seras Victoria, and is now both a No Life King and the Vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune! What was I thinking?
1. Prologue

In the darkness of slumber, one dreamed. Of times long gone... a past barely remembered. Times happy... and sad. Bright... and dim. Memories that brought joy... and sorrow.

The fog raises, and a few of these memories are brought to light for a brief, fluttering glimpse and gone again.

xxx

Blood-red eyes

xxx

After the situation with Millenium and the Freak chipped vampires had ended, things began to slowly die down for the Hellsing organization. Most of the vampires in England had joined in the Nazi uprising, and had died in battle. The few that remained had gone to ground, hiding themselves away or leaving for other places.

The council of Twelve convened, and after a lengthy discussion decided that the Hellsing monster, Alucard, had become a liability. While he was the only option against the powerful Elder vampires, or swarms of the weaker variety, his time had come and gone. Integral had argued against the decision, but the facts had stood. There were simply not enough vampires left in England, even should they all unite, to justify the use of Alucard in combat... and Elder vampires, though powerful in their own right, tended to prefer to live comfortably in the shadows, and rarely killed or turned those they fed off of. Alucard himself was something of an exeption to this rule, as he had never shed the battle-lust and killer instinct that came of becoming a No Life King.

After a long argument, Integra was overruled and Alucard was informed of his fate... a fate he took surprisingly calmly. When questioned, he'd replied with his ever-present smirk and a few short words.

"Police girl... No, Seras... I am eternally the weapon of Hellsing. I will never cease existing... whether it be one year or ten... centuries or millenia... there will come a time where I am needed once more. Frankly I prefer it this way... without anything left to challenge me, I'm afraid I'd grow quite bored."

Then, having said his piece, he calmly sauntered into the small cell, allowed the few Wild Geese who'd stuck around to shackle him and chain him to the wall, and slumped to a sitting position.

In the last moment before the door was fully shut and barred, Seras noted that he was still grinning wildly.

It was that image, more than anything, that finally prompted her to fully accept her inhuman nature... and to teach herself how to use her powers.

Perhaps that was a mistake. When the men of the council got wind that the comical 'Police girl' had made leaps and bounds towards her masters level, they began to quietly draw together and murmur... wondering what to do about Hellsing's _other_ monster.

For the moment, they were content to leave things lie. After all... just because Hellsing's nocturnal activities had diminished didn't mean that they had ceased entirely. There were still a fair few humanoid leeches around to hunt down. And Seras's powers steadily improved with use.

Eventually though, there came a time when days would pass between vampire appearances... then weeks... then months... and then a year and more passed without the slightest hint that vampires even existed... outside the Hellsing mansion.

And then the council convened once more, summoning Integra to speak to her once again about a pet monster. Once more she argued vehemently against them, and once more she was overruled by the old men, scared of the 'tame' vampire's swift increase in power. Let the humans hunt down whatever remnants of the Midians remained. In the end, Integra surprised her with a quick hug and apology before leaving her locked away in the dark, mere feet away from the being that had turned her... cold, still and lifeless as a real corpse.

With no way to judge the passing of day and night there was no sure way to tell when the hunger set in... but it couldn't have been too long. At first it was merely an irritant, but it steadily progressed to the point of agony... she was no longer used to going long periods of time without blood. It wasn't long until she succumbed to her instincts and began thrashing wildly with the desperate urge to feed... but even so, the lack of blood had weakened her to the point that the sturdy chains could easily hold her down. Over time, her struggles weakened, and slowed to a stop.

And then her body slipped into the false death of vampiric hibernation.

It was only then, as her vision suddenly shifted and she was looking down at her own shriveled and gnarled cadaver, that she realized the second reason Alucard hadn't been too terribly upset about being sealed once more into the basement. For about a week she experimented with this odd new ability, floating through the walls and ceilings and spying on the day-to-day life of the people that still lived in the Hellsing mansion... remarkably fewer than the amount of hustle and bustle she remembered.

Years passed and more and more soldiers left the Hellsing institution... reassigned to places that the council had decided they were needed more and payed hefty bonuses as reminders to keep their mouth's shut about their previous occupations. The few Geese that remained stuck around longer than the soldiers did... perhaps out of respect for Lady Integra or perhaps out of the pragmatic suspicion that the vampires were biding their time, waiting for the right time to return.

If so, then they were correct... But that did not save them.

The vampires that had left returned... all in one great swarm of bloodlust and chaos. The Geese fought valiantly against the sudden attack, but were swiftly overwhelmed as the raving hordes rushed past their destroyed comrades to tear the mortal gunmen to shreds. Integra withdrew to the interior of the building, knowing full well that she alone would stand no chance against the Midian army.

She nearly made it.

She had even managed to remove the first bar from the heavily sealed door before they caught up to her. They circled her as she turned and looked at them. They looked back. She drew her sword in one smooth motion and the fight began.

It was hopeless from the very start. Minutes passed and vampire after vampire hurled themselves boldly into the fray... dozens fell to the lady Hellsing, but for all her skill and training she was still only human, and soon succumbed to exhaustion, collapsing in the ankle-deep dusty remains of the vampires she had just slain.

Her ending was surprisingly merciful. A vampire in an expensive black suit stepped slowly through the stilled crowd. Integra managed to rise to her knees and look up, and for one brief moment the eyes of the opposing generals met. Then a single shot resounded... cold and hard and dark, and Integra slumped backwards to the dusty floor, the life swiftly draining from her body. The vampire holstered his pistol and leaned down to gently close her eyes... one more mark of respect to the human that had killed so many of his kind.

She had fully expected him to destroy the bodies of both her and her master Alucard, but instead he had barked out orders in another language and the lesser vampires surrounding him had immediately snapped to attention, dragging a pair of coffins in and treating their dehydrated forms with the utmost care as they set them within those boxes. Then he turned to where her disembodied spirit was floating and smirked as his eyes flashed.

The next few weeks were a blur, a multitude of nameless, faceless lesser vampires moving her about at the whim of their leader. Her first memory when she came to her senses was the head vampire carefully setting her body on a raised block of stone in a cave. Then he spoke.

"Police Girl... I know you can hear me. And I know that you know... A vampire in the state you are in is never left alone forever. Perhaps something will happen to destroy your body. A cave in maybe. But I doubt it. Sooner or later you will awaken, and I will be watching to see what happens next. Your plane had become boring... and this one could use some spicing up."

He turned and paced out of the cave, slowly fading away but leaving a last parting shot behind.

"ENTERTAIN ME!"

xxx

Seras swiftly discovered that, unlike before, she could not simply wander freely... for whatever reason she could now move no further than the mouth of the cave and look down into a wooded valley. Centuries passed, and a town grew, sprawling to a mere stones throw from the hill. People came and went... Ninja, using the hill as a training ground. Against all probability none of them ever noticed the small, rocky hole she was confined in. More time passed, marked only by the passing of the sun, the occasional snatch of conversation gleaned from random passerby, and, once in a very long while, screaming and large explosions... the symphonies of war, as the mad Major would put it. Not that it mattered... she would be pleased to sleep forever just to spit in the eye of that suited bastard.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

xxx

Uzumaki Naruto panted heavily as he slumped against a tree. It was October Tenth... his eighth birthday and the annual celebration of the defeat of the Kyuubi. As far back as he could remember, this was his least favorite day of the year. When he was four, the lady in charge of the orphanage had drug him out of bed, tossed him onto the street with an orange jumpsuit far too large for him, and coldly ordered him not to come back... or else. When he was five, the drunken mob assembled for the first time and beat him nearly to death. When he was six, he recieved a nice cake from an anonymous source. It was laced with multiple heavy duty poisons. When he was seven the mob set fire to the tenement he was staying in. He managed to make it to the basement, but was buried under the rubble for days until he dug himself out.

And this year he was running from a mob of angry drunks again... only this time someone had managed to drive a broken glass bottle into his side.

He stood back up and began glancing around... he'd made it to a training area... that was both good and bad. Good because that could mean he could probably find someplace to hide easier. Bad because it was less likely he could be rescued by an ANBU patrol if the mob caught him. Also, if they were close enough to the forest the scent of his blood could attract hungry predators.

He started to move before pausing... was that? He turned to look at it closer. Plants had grown to conceal the opening in the hill, but it was unmistakeably there. He staggered into it, praying that none of the people chasing him noticed the small hollow.

He paused again just within the tiny hole... for a moment he'd heard something... a silent voice crying out in warning... screaming for him to leave, to run and hide elsewhere. A trained shinobi might have known to trust those instincts, but Naruto just shook the feeling off and staggered fully into the cave. Odd... the entry was small, but just a few feet in it opened up to a larger hollow... he patted himself down until he found an unused match in his pockets and lit it.

He barely managed to suppress a strangled scream by dropping the match and covering his mouth with both hands. Seconds passed as his breathing slowed and he calmed down, shocked from what he'd seen.

"A corpse... great."

He sighed quietly and glanced at the cave mouth, where he could hear the mob stampeding past in search of him.

"Not like I got a choice though... Sorry miss... I hope you don't mind me joining you here for a little while. If they find me... I can't run anymore."

He slumped back against the rocky wall and hissed softly in pain and fatigue. Pain was a part of life. He was accustomed to pain and could handle a great deal more of it than any child his age should be expected to. Nevertheless...

"This has to come out..."

He braced his uninjured side against the wall, gritting his teeth as he gripped the glass bottle firmly. One savage yank and it came loose... followed by a spurt of bright red blood.

xxx

The more powerful vampires, simply put, cannot die of starvation like their lesser brethren. When seperated from blood sources for extended periods of time, these Greater vampires go through all the pain of slow starvation, but rather than dying descend into a false death. It is theorized that such a dehydrated Greater vampire could spend centuries... even millenia. More fascinating though, is how simple it is to awaken the vampire from its hibernation. Even a single drop of blood, if placed in direct contact with the dehydrated vampire will awaken it from its hibernation.

Time seemed to freeze, all of creation holding its breath as the crimson fluid reached the apex of its arc, then continued down, splatterring lightly across the corpse's face. Naruto dropped the bottle, tinking lightly against a pebble on the ground and the disembodied Seras felt the inexorable pull back to her body... and the hunger that came with it.

Slrp.

Naruto caught his breath and glanced around. What was that sound? Where had it come from?

Slrp. Slrp. Slllrrp.

His eyes had finally adjusted to the greater darkness in the cave and what he saw horrified him. The corpse that occupied the stone slab in the center had rolled over... and was eagerly lapping up the blood that had spurted onto the stone. Its head came up, focusing on his sharp gasp, and the dead eyes opened, revealing a slight red glow.

That was enough for him to snap out of his shocked stupor and dart for the exit, only to be caught up in a pair of unnaturally strong arms from behind. He screamed then, a hopeless cry of absolute terror, draining off to a gurgle as the corpse's jaw clamped over his throat and pierced it with unnatturally long fangs.

xxx

The mob heard the scream and immediately homed in on it, ignoring the way it swiftly broke off. Upon reaching the hill it only took a few minutes to locate the hole they'd missed the first time around.

"So that's where the little runt's hiding."

The angry mob gathered around the tiny opening... and paused.

"So... who goes first?"

"I'm not going. Look how small it is... I wouldn't even fit."

"It might be a trap."

"That would be just like the demon brat."

"A cave in, burying us all."

Still more murmuring broke out through the suddenly indecisive crowd.

Crunch.

The crowd grew silent and the sound of footsteps on pebbles. The idiot was going to come right out to them.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Several of the weaker ninja in the mob slowly stepped back as they sensed a sudden wave of killer intent floating out of the small cave.

Crunch.

They were followed swiftly by most of the more sober villagers as the figure began to take shape against the opening. Whoever this was, it was too tall to be the demon brat...

Many eyes widened as the figure took the final step out of the cave. It... no she couldn't possibly be human. That conclusion could be drawn by the fact that her arms were somewhat longer than normal, giving her body, draped in rotting leather, an oddly proportioned look. It could have been that she was hunched lightly over, with the Kyuubi brat hanging from her jaws like a wolf that had just caught a baby rabbit. It could also be that when she dropped the boy and he slumped to the ground like a wet dishrag her fangs were revealed and her eyes glowed blood red as she pounced, tearing open the throat of a fat drunk with her teeth and burying her face in the arterial flow, loudly guzzling at his lifeblood.

The spooked crowd fled, screaming in terror about monsters eating monsters.

Slowly the drunk's bloodflow came to a stop, and Seras stood from his drained corpse, not even giving him a glance before casting a sorrowful glance at the orange-clad child. She had long since accepted the fact that occasionally she would have to kill humans. Even so, she hated to see the death of an innocent child... even though...

"Right... he's too young to have lost his purity. I'd forgotten about that, with all the FREAKS. Damn..."

She let loose a sigh and lifted the boy, who while bloodless was still breathing shallowly, and faded into the night with her new Childe.

xxx

A.N.

Alright... I was working on Honor among Thieves, but frankly I've hit a block there. So naturally I put it off a little, and then my little brother came up with the crazy idea of crossing Naruto and Hellsing. This actually isn't anything like what he'd rambled on about but one thing led to another and things got going, you know. The clincher was when I thought of a Naruto dressed up in Alucard's clothes... only the coat and hat were BRIGHT VIVID ORANGE! I bust a gut laughing at the idea, but I still like it.

Anyway, the origional idea had Naruto-kun being turned after the Genin exams, by Alucard, but after brutally tearing and reforming the idea I decided I liked this better. Seras won't be canonical, more of a blend of her and Alucard's personality really, but I think this will do well. Oh, but let me know if I should put in a few of Alucard and Naruto's misadventures in as Omake. Could be amusing.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter one

xxx

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Sarutobi sighed as he put his pipe down and turned to the Jounin that had just burst into his office, screaming. Even on the night of the most celebrated holiday of the year, his work never ended... he nodded at the man to continue, idly trying to place a name to his face... one of the Hyuuga anyway.

"Hokage-sama... there has been a large disturbance reported..."

"Of course there has." He sighed and rubbed his old temples. "Tell me... what have the villagers done to the poor boy this time and what's the excuse for not intervening this year?"

The Jounin stood up straight, carefully looking anywhere but at the Hokage.

"As ordered, guards were stationed around the apartment complex Uzumaki resides in to prevent such a conflagration as last year. Unfortunately, reports show that the mob formed several blocks away and herded Uzumaki away from his building of residence."

Naturally. 'Guards' and 'Reports'. Nebulous figures without names that he couldn't penalize and chastise. He groaned at the thought of what Naruto had looked like the last time he ran afoul of a mob... They'd actually had to amputate his left arm. Fortunately the boy's burden had stepped in and grown it back before he came out of the coma.

"Continue."

"Yes sir. From what we can tell, Uzumaki evaded pursuit for approximately an hour within the residential areas before heading for the nearest training ground. From there reports are sketchy, but it appears that the mob combed the training grounds for Uzumaki for another half an hour before suddenly fleeing, screaming about a monster killing a monster and blood. We've examined the area... there is a corpse but it's not the boy's."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed as he drew himself out of his chair and to his full height.

"Bring me there."

xxx

Naruto slowly came to and glanced around himself, crinkling his nose at the smell. He was...

"In a sewer...?"

He stood up and glanced around, confused. Where was he? How had he gotten here? He shook his head and started pacing determinedly, hoping to find a manhole leading out of this disgusting place.

After what seemed like hours of endless tunnels that all looked alike, he finally found himself in a larger room, cut off by bars and a large paper tag labeled 'Seal'. But if he squinted and peered into the darkness inside the cage, he could barely make out a gargantuan form.

The form of a nine-tailed fox.

He didn't have time to voice his confusion as the surroundings faded to grey and dissolved.

"Kid! Wake up!"

Naruto sat straight up, eyes wide and gasping as a ratty blanket dropped down off his chest. Was that... just a dream? Or something more...

"Oh... you're up. Well it's about time."

Naruto sighed at the unknown voice. Then his eyes widened and he clutched desperately at his throat, only to freeze, finding no mar or blemish.

"But..." he muttered, "I thought that the corpse bit...?"

The unknown voice coughed.

"Corpse? Well I've been called worse I suppose. Still..."

Naruto turned his head, finally getting a good look at this new person. Female... A good bit taller than him, but then again few weren't... Extremely pale blonde hair, almost white, hanging down past her shoulders... an impressive figure he noted, fighting down a flush, garbed in... was that decomposing leather? Eew. He grimaced, noting that she had begun to talk again.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation of some sort. But first, given recent circumstances, I believe introductions are in order. Seras Victoria, Childe of Alucard."

Naruto stared at her. Surely this was a joke? He doubted there was a single soul in Konoha that didn't know the name of the 'cursed demon brat'. Even so... nobody had ever introduced themselves to him like this either. Maybe she was new around here? Either way he decided to play along.

"Uzumaki Naruto... and I'm an orphan."

"Well at least that settles one problem..." Seras muttered under her breath. "Several more to go. In any case, I've promised you an explanation, and you'll get it... but first I'm going to find someone for you to eat."

Naruto blinked as she stepped out of the room, then shook his head and decided that he had misheard.

xxx

Sarutobi grimaced down at the corpse.

"The wound was definitely caused by something with very sharp teeth. I'd say some sort of large predator. A wolf maybe, or a bear. However, aside from that one wound the body is other wise unmarred... and while the corpse seems to have lost nearly all its blood, there are only a few spatters here and there on the ground. Hmm..."

The two Jounin on standby kept quiet, leaving their Hokage to work on the puzzle on his own.

"I can only conclude that either he wasn't killed here, or whatever killed him did something with his blood. There are no signs of his body having been moved. The wound seems to have been caused by some sort of animal, but a dumb beast would have either continued to savage the body once he fell or moved on to another of the mob... and yet he was the only victim. And what happened to his blood? If it was a beast, it would have left the blood to spill into the dirt... if it was a man pretending to be a beast, then why would he remove the blood? What would the point be?"

He leaned back against a nearby tree to stroke his beard and think, never noticing the corpse's eyes slowly opening and focusing on him.

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

The scream snatched him back to awareness, eyes widening as he leapt to the side to dodge the slavering corpse's advance. It turned slowly, empty, dead eyes once more locking on the Sandaime as it brought its arms up for another shambling rush.

"Uuuuuuuuuuun."

"Pin it to the tree!" He yelled.

One of the Jounin nodded, drawing a sword and hurling it point first at the monster. The sword passed easily through the dead flesh, thunking deeply into the tree behind the thing.

"A monster..."

Sarutobi shook his head and his eyes narrowed.

"Kill this... thing... and bring me someone who saw what happened here. Someone sober!"

xxx

Naruto had managed to stagger out of his makeshift cot to get a better look around the area. Not much to see though. Crates, crates, and look! Over there in the corner! a stack of still more crates. As far as he could tell he was in the basement of some sort of warehouse. How odd. He hadn't even known that warehouses _had_ basements. Seras slowly phased through the wall behind him, completely ignoring the door she'd left through. Something was wrapped in a tarp and slung casually over her shoulder, and she set it gently down on a crate before announcing herself.

"Hey kid!"

Naruto blinked, eyes widening as his gaze shot from the door to Seras and back again.

"But... That's the only door. When did you."

"Nevermind. Now tell me... what do you remember?"

"Ah? Well I had this weird dream just now, about a giant fox in a sewer..."

"Baka! Before that."

"Ah... I'm not sure. I remember running from the mob and hiding in a hole... there was a corpse... And it BIT me! But... that's not possible. It's not..."

"Isn't it? Look at me."

Seras paced forward and sat on a crate, staring into Naruto's eyes. He stared back, confused, but unblinking. Then he felt it. A niggling prescence in his mind, speaking with her voice.

_'I suppose I owe you an apology.'_

His eyes widened. How had she...?

"... Yes. I owe you my deepest, sincerest apologies. Choices... I believe they have the greatest of values, more than gold or jewels... and with that hunger-crazed act I stole away many more choices than you could understand, and for that I may never be able to ask your forgiveness."

"Nani? I don't get it, I'm fine. It must have been... a nightmare or something, because see? Where I thought I was bit, there's not even a mark."

"Yes... Vampire bites heal extremely quickly if the victim is turned."

"Huh? Vampire?"

Seras sighed and shook her head, leaning back against the wall as she considered this.

"You have never heard of vampires? That's odd... Even given how long my body slept, I would think that there would be some recollection of our kind... even if only in myth and campfire tales. In any case... that is what we are. I for centuries, and you... you have become one of us through that cursed bite. Now... I think an exchange of information is in order. I have knowledge that you will desperately need, to adjust to what you are now... and for the moment, you are the only one I can question."

She scowled heavily, anger shifting the color of her now-gleaming eyes. Naruto swallowed a gulp as he finally connected the dots.

"Wait... that means... that thing... IT WAS YOU?"

"Keep it down brat. And yes. Now..."

Her eyes seemed to flare, and any further protests died within his throat. Upon realizing this, her eyes softened lightly, maternal instincts kicking in despite her nature.

"I'll make it simple, kid. I'm... not where I'm supposed to be. While I was... in hibernation... I was moved quite a bit, and that left me in stasis for far longer than I'd expected. I need to know as much as you can tell me about the history and geography of this town and the surrounding countryside."

She sighed at his obvious look of confusion with her bizarre request. Great. Just her luck that her first Childe wouldn't be the sharpest tack.

"Nevermind. Just hold still, and I'll borrow the information from your head."

xxx

"Alright now, I'd like to ask you to remain calm and explain just what happened out there."

"Of course. Ah... Hokage-sama? I'd just like to make it clear right now that I have nothing personal against Uzumaki-san. After all, he was due to begin in the academy in a few days... It's simply that had I refused to join the revelers, they would have begun with me before moving on to hunting down the boy. They were large and drunk, and outnumbered me by two-dozen to one. Also, while I'm no medic-nin, I do know a few healing Jutsu and fully intended to hang around until everyone had left and insure he made it to the hospital."

"Of course Mizuki... I never doubted you for a second. But if we could get back to the matter at hand?"

"Of course. Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Mizuki leaned back into the wall, brow furrowing as he assembled his thoughts.

"After the rabble assembled, we began following him through the lower residential districts. I have to hand it to him... Uzumaki-san is excellent at evading pursuit. It was like an hour long game of cat and mouse before he was forced to leave the district to seek shelter elswhere. An old man with a cane let us know which way he had left and we followed the trail to a nearby training ground, where it went cold. The mob spread out and searched the training ground until a scream erupted from nowhere, leading us to a small cave that had been previously overlooked. They assembled, surrounding the opening, but were reluctant to enter, fearing a trap. Then..."

Sarutobi gave the shuddering man a minute to compose himself before setting his pipe down and leaning forward.

"Then what, Mizuki? This information could be important. Speak."

"Then... It came out. It was...!"

The Sandaime instantly knew something was wrong, as Mizuki's eyes widened and his sentence broke off into a strangled gasp, staring behind him. Tensing his muscles in preparation to defend himself, Sarutobi slowly turned his head.

xxx

"What the devil...?"

Seras looked around and grimaced. This place was... ugh. She focused, extending a tendril of power into Naruto's active mind and leaving him only a moment to be shocked at the unexpected contact before dragging his consciousness to her side. There was a near inaudible huff of air being shoved aside before he appeared and dropped heavily to the grimy floor.

"Dammit, that hurt!"

"Be quiet and look around kid. A good long look. Seen enough? Now tell me... Why, of all things, is your mindscape a reeking sewer? Most people have nature scenes, or empty cities. A few, who have gone through great trauma, manifest fortresses or dungeons."

"Mind-what?"

Seras sighed and began to explain, not noticing that Naruto, used to his questions being ignored completely, was staring raptly at the walls instead of listening.

"There are two stages of the telepathy I use. The first is more basic, I simply send fleeting thoughts and messages into your head. The second, advanced stage, brings one or both of us directly to your mindscape while giving the illusion of slowing down time in the real world. The setting of the mindscape is heavily dependent on the personality and mental state of the person. For instance, a very young girl's mindscape could be reminiscent of a dollhouse, while a young boy's could be a playground. People with darker personalities typically- ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?"

"It's here... that dream..."

Naruto darted off in a seemingly random direction, causing Seras to bite off a curse as she followed somewhat more sedately, muttering under her breath.

"I swear... I wouldn't have dared act like that if _my_ Master was explaining something to me. Then again Master Alucard rarely explained anything, he just told me what to do and expected me to do it on my own... and the poor kid can't even be ten yet, so maybe I should cut him some slack."

She sighed lightly as she turned around another corner, then arched her eyebrow at the sight before her. The kid had collapsed to his knees, staring into what looked like a huge cage. Peering in herself, she had to muscle down a grimace.

"I really have the feeling that I do _not_ want to know how that got in here. It's huge... If the wildlife grows to that size around here... I miss my Harkonnen."

Naruto was beginning to shake lightly as the beast withing the cage began to ever so slowly turn its head and glare at them. Oddly enough, the thing's entire demeanor seemed to scream of fatigue and depression.

**"What do you want, two legged leech? Come to gloat?"**

After the many things she'd seen and killed, Seras wasn't surprised in the least that the giant fox was talking to her. Naruto, however, brought his shivers to a whole new intensity.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't follow you."

**"You... don't know."**

A rasping noise came from deep withing the beast's throat, and after a moment of confusion she realized that it was chuckling darkly.

**"A few short decades until my freedom... perhaps a century... all gone. And you have NO IDEA of what you have done... the sheer... overwhelming irony... It is almost too much to bear."**

The fox rose to its feet, turning to leer menacingly at them.

**"I am the Demon, the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, and now I must suffer this insolence for all eternity! And it's all thanks to you, leech. I do hope you're proud of yourself."**

At this point Naruto finally got control of his shivers and spoke up.

"This... this can't be real. You're dead. The Yondaime killed you when you attacked Konoha. You're dead!"

**"Foolish kitling... you know nothing. History is written by the survivors, who always paint themselves and their 'heroes' in the best light. I had no reason to attack Konoha... my interests lay elsewhere at the time. But humans are flighty creatures, and fear what they do not understand... they easily leap to incorrect conclusions. Sit down and listen, and I will tell you what _really_ happened that day... You, leech. You may leave... this conversation does not concern you, and what you seek is behind that door."**

One of the foxes tails came up, pointing in the general direction of a door, obviously waiting for Seras to leave. She shrugged and didn't bother to even waste time opening the door, phasing through it instead and being instantly swept up into a rapid slideshow of everything Naruto had ever seen and heard.

"Killed your mother... I would trust this to no other... no one deserves this more than you, bastard."

"Demon spawn! Get out! Out of my shop!"

Lying broken, as drunks pissed on his corpse.

Dodging a falling timber... Oh god, it burns.

"You see that boy, honey? I wan't you to stay away from him. He's a very bad boy. If he comes near you, throw things at him until he leaves. The bad boy deserves it."

Wave after wave of sights, sounds and emotions pounded from his brain to hers, pain, all at once, enough to drive a grown man into insanity. She didn't even flinch, waiting for it to finish and then leaving.

**"Huh... Impressive. She's no run of the mill leech. Hmph, no matter. Get comfortable kit, this may take a while.**

**To understand, you have to know a little bit about the nature of most demons. Contrary to human belief, the word demon did not origionally equate to an evil entity, but to a planar traveler. Demon is actually a derogative of the word 'Dimension', making a demon 'one who travels between dimensions. Picture a realm of infinite possibilities... planes of existence where different things happened. For example, say Konoha was origionally founded in the next valley over. Not much would change, but it would still be different, no? That's the most basic example of multiple dimensions. On a different level are the planar types of these dimensions. Human planes, where it is easiest for you humans to thrive, Infernal and Celestial planes for my kind and what you humans termed kami respectfully, Then there are the various elemental planes, and planes of Order and Chaos. For an example, I'd say that somewhere there is a village, very similar to this one, populated only by minor demons, where something similar to the battle I fought here happened... but with a high-level Celestial entity in my place. But I'm of track... in any case I would be classified as an Infernal Demon. Not sure about the leech... you'd have to ask her about her home dimension yourself, as her kind are common on multiple planes.**

**Now remember... not all beings that hail from Infernal planes are evil. Just like not everything from the Celestial planes are automatically good. It depends on the individual entity. For example, one of my acquaintances, Ichibi no Shukaku, is one of the most foul beings to come into existence. Similarly, Nibi no Nekomata's main powers come from death and Necromancy... but outside battle she's like a sweet, naive three year old. I've also come across some Celestials that can give Shukaku a serious run for his money in sheer absolute evil.**

**Now we've established demons as beings outside their home dimension. There are three ways for this to happen. First, a being could find a way to traverse between dimensions on its own... an unlikely prospect at best. Second, an entity may be summoned from its own plane to another... like your ninja summons. However, the summoner must always do something in exchange. Sometimes it's as little as signing a contract... although some of the more evil kind demand sacrifices. And third... once in a _very_ long while something will happen that tears an individual entity or group of entities from one dimension to another. That is how I, and the rest of the Bijuu found ourselves in the elemental lands... with our abilities severely lessened. For one... we were locked in our largest forms.**

**Now you should know that there are three things that almost all entities need to survive. Some form of rest, water, and... food. When we could take smaller or humanoid forms this was no problem, because we would eat in our smallest form and that could satisfy us. Locked in our greater forms though... food became scarce. For some, this was no problem... Shukaku and the Orochi had no qualms with raiding human settlements for food. Those of us that had no taste for humanflesh... we had to move often to keep from over-hunting areas. If you were allowed in the library, you could go look up dates and you'd find that only a week before I passed through the area there was a sudden increase in wildlife"**

The Kyuubi shook its giant head before continuing.

**"Naturally I could not pass by such a banquet. I chose a route that should have made it obvious that I had no intentions of attacking the village, but I could not go too far out of my way either. Even so, I was most astonished when wave after wave of ninja flooded out to attack me. I held my temper in check for some time... a difficult thing to do with hundreds of sharp, pointy bits of metal richocheting off of you. Frankly, however, targeting my genetalia was the last straw."**

Naruto slowly cocked his head to the side.

"What's a genetalia?"

**"COUGH cough hack... Er... No questions, just listen to the story. Anyway... once the impudence became simply too much to bear I began to fight back. At first I tried my best to keep the unneccessary death to a minimum but... after a while my hunger and bloodlust took over. It had been several weeks since my last meal, and my anger had begun to get the better of me. I came to the conclusion that if these humans were so desperately suicidal, then they might as well make themselves useful one last time... providing me nourishment."**

Kyuubi paused in his story to glance at Naruto, who'd gone rather green.

**"Why are you so upset about... oh. I see... what the leech said still doesn't make any sense to you, does it? Well... that's not really something for me to explain, is it? Let the leech tell you about what that bite did to us. Now, back to the battle. Where was I... oh yes. After filling myself a giant toad with a man riding it entered the battle. Gamabunta... one of the summons I mentioned earlier. The battle was long, and I marked him more than once before it ended... in my enraged state not even wondering what the human on Bunta's head was doing... or why he had brought an infant to a battlefield.**

**So now you know. The truth of what happened on that fateful day. The only question is what happens now. Will you reject the truth, leave and forget this entire conversation? Will you do your best to deny it, striving your hardest to pretend you're just a normal human? Or will you accept it... learn things that only I can teach you about how to use your power. Typical shinobi can teach you how to use your chakra... to a degree. But as long as I am here, your chakra will never be completely human. That will make learning human techniques far more difficult for you. A large handicap... but perhaps you can overcome it on your own. Perhaps you _will_ achieve your dream of ruling these humans with no more than the few things you will be able to memorize and force to work for you. But perhaps not. A true ninja would not make such a foolish gamble.**

**Don't answer now. This is a monumental decision... one you could regret making on the spur of the moment. Leave and think on it... take as long as you need. Don't give me your answer until you're completely sure... because once you have, there's no turning back. Now go... It seems the leech has started her meal without you."**

The surroundings seemed to blur and swirl as they faded away and left him gasping as he returned to control of his body... and bit off a strangled scream as he caught sight of Seras, fangs buried deep within the throat of the passed out drunk she'd brought in earlier.

xxx

It had been surprisingly easy to convince the boy to feed off of the waste of society. While he panicked, Seras had cupped a small amount of blood in her palm and flung it directly at his face, shocking him into silence. A small rivulet trickled onto his lip, and he licked it off. An automatic reaction. After that instincts kicked in, and he eagerly sank his own fangs into the drunk. She'd probably have to deal with all sorts of crap later for cheating that way, but she'd deal with that later. For now, she had to talk with this Hokage person who apparently ran the village. She grimaced as she thought about how useless Naruto's memories had been. The kid was unschooled and uneducated... he knew extremely little, most of which only meant anything within this particular village.

She'd have to look elsewhere for information.

She slowly faded through a final wall, catching the tail end of a conversation that broke off in a strangled gasp. The old man he was talking to slowly turned his head to stare at her.

"H-hokage-sama! It's her, the thing from the cave that killed Uzumaki!"

She didn't see the old man move... not even a blur. He was just there, sitting in his comfortable chair one second and standing in front of her in a battle posture while nearly a dozen of those ninja throwing knives thudded into her chest the next. Gah... flashback to Paladin 'Bayonet' Anderson.

"Well that's a polite welcome. Should I assume that you are the 'old man' that the kid seems to like so much?"

Her words were meant to put the men at their ease, but if anything it had the opposite effect. The old mans grip on the knife in his hand tightened as his eyes went steely and hard, and the other man began to very slowly edge towards the door.

"Naruto? Where is he? If you've hurt him then so help me..."

"Whoah. Easy old timer... the kid's just fine. I would have brought him here, but he was right in the middle of a meal when I left. And while I can promise that I haven't _intentionally_ hurt him... Perhaps it would be easier if I just gave you the information rather than trying to explain it out loud."

Sarutobi's eyes unfocused the slightest bit as Seras sent the relevant information directly to his brain. He spent a moment analyzing it and considering before sitting slowly back down. He nodded at Mizuki, and the petrified Chunnin took that as his cue to scamper off in a panic. He let out a deep sigh... by tomorrow evening there would be hundreds of rumors flying around and none of them would be right.

"So..." He began slowly. "Shall I take it that Naruto will indeed be enrolling in the Shinobi Academy come next week?"

"Well that depends, doesn't it. Do they have night classes?"

"Ah... the sunlight thing. Well I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. Are you sure you can't...?"

"He's only just been turned. For the next few months the light of day will be fatal to him... he's fortunate. Most of our kind can never face the sun again. For him, it will only take a few short years before he can tolerate direct sunlight. It won't be pleasant, but he'll be able to. Now if you'll excuse my, I have to go fill in my Childe on the dangers of his new existence. He must learn to beware of garlic, sunlight, silver, and all that is deemed sacred or he will not survive for long."

She turned and faded once more through the wall, leaving the Sandaime to his thoughts as he slowly puffed away at his pipe.

xxx

Seras slowly faded into the basement, where she was greeted with Naruto's teary eyed, bloodstained face.

"What have you... What have you _done_ to me?"

Slowly she let out an aggrieved sigh as she wrapped her arms around the sobbing boy... her Childe.

Outside, the first faint glimmers of the sun's rays began to peek over the horizon. And somewhere, somehow, an entity in a black suit was watching.

And he was _most_ amused.

xxx

A.N.

Wow. This is actually a lot longer than I'd intended to write it... at first I'd intended the Kyuubi bit to be maybe half the size it is. I just started typing, and Kyuubi kept rambling on and on... Even so, I like it. Anyway, next chapter will probably skip right to graduation from the academy, with a few flashbacks now and then. Speaking of which, I'd intended for him to have the canon team, only to swiftly grow sick of Kakasi favoring the Uchiha and seek instruction elsewhere. I'm debating over it now though. It may still work with him on another team.

Oh, and check out 'Hateful begining' by Horific Albel Nox. The summary isn't as good as it could be, but I like the story... especially what he did with Ino and Shino.

And now, the Omake! Granted, they aren't much.

:Omake 1:

Naruto slumped in shock as he continued to stare into the cage. It was insane... he'd come down into the sewer with Alucard and found something completely unexpected... the dreaded Kyuubi no Kitsune, king of demons.

Against all possible sanity, Alucard had immediately leapt into the fray, disengaging molecular cohesion and reforming himself into his familiar, a gigantic multi-eyed hellhound.

They had been fighting for hours now, and neither showed the slightest sign of slowing down, leaving Naruto to sink into a state of shock outside the cage.

:Omake 2:

Alucard slowly faded into the basement, where he was greeted with Naruto's teary eyed, bloodstained face.

"What have you... what have you _done_ to me?"

Alucard casually slapped him out of the way, crashing into a pile of crates, and started feeding off the second hobo he'd drug down here. The impudent brat would get over it soon enough... either that or he'd slip into a nervous breakdown and either kill himself or do his best to kill Alucard. Possibly both.

Meh... no biggie.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter two

xxx

Iruka groaned as he slowly rolled out of bed. Why did he have to get up so early again? Oh, right, today was graduation day at the academy and he had to prepare some sort of speech before assigning teams. He shook his head slightly. What few people knew was that while they did place the top and bottom of the class on the same team, everything else was more or less random.

He shrugged and stepped out the door, thinking about a certain student... the only one in his class. For some reason the Hokage had given him special dispensation when he came to the academy to attend at night and study on his own, with the occasional test overseen by a Chunnin examiner... usually Mizuki. Fortunately, only eight students in his normal class had managed to pass the grueling final test, so he'd slip right into a team with no problems.

While Iruka's thought's slipped from his most interesting and confusing student, anothers was just beginning.

After many, many hours of long, hard contemplation, he had finally come to the conclusion... that Naruto was not the Kyuubi. The thought briefly brought a slight grimace to his face as he considered the many ways he himself had mistreated what he had come to realize was an innocent child. Even so...

Mizuki still shuddered in fear every time he recalled that night. That monster... it was nowhere near the power levels the Kyuubi radiated, but that made it no less terrifying. The members of the mob that were nearly to smashed to stand were the fortunate ones. They'd all passed out somewhere and forgotten the whole incident. The rest were not so lucky... a few would wake up, screaming in the night from what they'd seen haunting their dreams.

The kid though... He'd been dead. When the she-monster had dropped him he was dead, Mizuki was sure of it. And yet less than a week later Uzumaki had enrolled in the ninja academy, as though he had never been injured. Mizuki would write it off as the Kyuubi refusing to allow its host to die so prematurely except that as the kid's academy years passed he began changing... far more than was natural. The boy was hiding something, and he wasn't sure what but from the occasional meeting with the Sandaime he could guess a little at it. Sarutobi was extremely and notoriously tight-lipped, but every so often even he would let facts slip.

Like the animated corpse.

Mizuki would still shiver from time to time when he thought about it. That the poor drunk the she-monster had killed had risen, only a short while later, to become a hideous abomination against all life. A moving corpse, immediately lunging in hunger for the nearest source of warm flesh... Maybe it was something the she-monster had done to the corpse after finishing her meal, but according to a subtle inquiry of the shinobi that had accompanied the Hokage there had been no marks on the body other than the throat, no seals, no ambient chakra left floating in the air... certainly there were a few jutsu, forbidden above all others, that could drag the unwilling dead back to this world for a time... but this seemed different somehow. A ravenous beast clothed in a man's corpse. Perhaps it was the way the thing had killed him, devouring his very lifeblood?

Now _that_ was a truly chilling thought. If every person that creature killed would rise again, a mindless, ravening beast, then perhaps its horror was indeed greater than even the Kyuubi... and yet where did the kid figure into this? He'd seen Uzumaki dead the same way he'd seen the drunk dead, and later he'd seen Uzumaki again, seemingly in perfect health... and yet different somehow.

Firstly, the child that had enjoyed running around screaming his head off in the sun had become somewhat quieter... and had developed a severe aversion to sunlight. He was, on occasion, seen in the daylight hours, but only within an hour or so of sunrise or sunset, and even then he tended to stick to the deepest shadows. He wore gloves, a hat, and a long coat at all times, even at night, as though he was trying to ward away even the tiniest ray of sun from his skin. Naturally, he had become quite pale. He never seemed to eat, citing lack of hunger or claiming that he had eaten previously and was quite full. Anorexia? Quite the sudden change from a child that would eat a dozen or more bowls of ramen at once for a single meal. Perhaps it was possible that the near-death experience of having his throat torn out had radically altered his personality... but to such an extent?

But the most telling thing... Mizuki had seen him sometimes, outside of the academy. When that happened... almost always, it was in an area where a crime had been commited recently. Nothing minor, but nothing that had progressed to the point where ANBU had to step in either. The next day, reports would always come in that the criminal had been found dead, all blood and the heart removed, and the head smashed in. The heart would usually be found nearby, but the blood... simply dissappeared. Mizuki would write up a careful and detailed report every time and hand it over to the Hokage... but there was never any proof implicating the kid in any way, simply that he was in the general area when the attack occurred. So were hundreds of other people. So the Hokage would read the report, nodding, thank him, and file it away where it would never be seen again... and Mizuki would have to wonder whether or not he was imagining the brief, instantly hidden flash of guilt in the Sandaime's eyes. The one thing though... the one thing that made him sure it was the supposedly mid-ranked academy student targeting and eliminating these criminals... was something that couldn't truly be put into words. It was an aura, surrounding him like killer intent and yet... not. Surrounding him and radiating... hunger. Like a great predator staring you in the eyes, and slowly licking its chops before crouching to pounce.

The same aura that had surrounded the she-monster.

He shook his head to clear it of the ever more disturbing conclusions he was beginning to draw and continued plotting. He'd intended to use the Uzumaki... pin the blame on him. The ignorant villagers would be only too eager to believe the worst of the 'demon', and they'd support him if he was caught... but Uzumaki had passed easily, destroying the foundations of his carefully laid plan. In retrospect he felt foolish for automatically assuming that he would fail... but this did throw a wrench in things.

He needed to make a new plan, and fast. Time was running out. He _needed_ that scroll... the consequences of failure were too horrible to contemplate.

xxx

"Dawn is near."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"It seems you can't hide in the night forever ninja-boy. Do be careful. You're strong enough to survive sunlight now... that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. Now get going... we wouldn't want your instructors to come looking for you, would we?"

Naruto just smirked and faded through the wall.

"Brat."

xxx

Iruka was this close to wanting to cry. All that work to write an expressive, motivational speech, and the most of the ingrates ignored it in favor of staring at and whispering about 'the new kid'. Not that he could really blame them though... his reaction had been similar the first time he'd met Naruto. For some reason, he'd expected him to be loud and foolish.

Well he had no problem speaking his mind, but only with people that he liked. That was very few. Even so, it was more his appearance that distracted people than his personality. For one, the twelve year old was short... at least six or seven inches shorter than the rest of the class. He was wearing a black trenchcoat that had to have been specially tailored to fit him, with a bright vivid orange spiral on the back. Then there was the hat. The hat was... unique to say the least. Rather than the typical conic straw hat that could be found anywhere, this hat was made out of leather. Parts were stiff and parts were soft leaving it wide brimmed but still floppy. Why compared to the hat, the gloves and boots were almost normal. His pants were, naturally, black and so was the T-shirt underneath the multiple leather straps holding the front open. He couldn't make out most of the orange lettering through the straps, only PCALYS NW.

His hat was drawn down, covering his face, but Iruka could tell that he was one of the two people listening carefully to him. Shino was the other.

"And to conclude, as Konoha's newest crop of Genin, you are now adults in the eyes of this village. Use this status wisely and with respect, as the Hokage and ANBU forces have the right to revoke this status if necessary. Now, the teams. Team seven is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba. Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team eight is Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, and Uzumaki Naruto. Jounin sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Team nine is an already active Genin team. Team ten is Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Nara Shikamaru. Jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. Team eight... your sensei is currently on a mission and won't be back until tomorrow. You're free to go, but I suggest you begin getting to know each other better. The rest of you wait here for your sensei to arrive."

No one noticed a gleam appear in Mizuki's eyes as Team eight left, distracted by either chattering at each other or trying to get a look at the mysterious new Genin's face.

xxx

"I can't believe they put forehead-girl on the team with _my_ Sasuke-kun. It's just not fair. Gaah!"

Nearby, and only barely listening to the blonde girl's rant, Shino and Naruto were silently sizing each other up. One would cock his head slightly and the other would shift his feet a bit. One would slightly tense his shoulders and the other would change his footing slightly. One would...

"Sooo... I'm Ino! I know you're Shino, and that would make you...?"

Naruto let himself relax, prompting Shino to do the same as Ino's question trailed off.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I attended a special night class."

"Really? Why?"

Naruto paused momentarily before spouting a convincing lie.

"I'm not quite sure. You'd have to ask the Council why they..."

"Team eight?"

Their heads turned, instantly recognizing the interruption.

"Mizuki-sensei?"

The man chuckled warmly.

"Don't call me that... I stopped being your sensei when you graduated from the academy. Anyway, I'm glad I caught up to you so fast. With Kurenai gone, it falls to me to give you three your first mission assignment."

He instantly had Ino's rapt attention, and both Shino and Naruto looked more subtly interested.

"Actually it's not so much a mission as a final test. You three have passed the Genin exam, but that's only the first step. Of the twenty seven students passed for Genin, only nine will actually make the cut. This test has a failure rate of two thirds!"

"WHAT!" Ino screamed, frightening the nearby birds into flying away and making her teammates wince in pain. "That's not fair! After all that work, we could still be sent back?"

"You must understand Ino, the Genin exams only pass those with the _potential_ to succeed as shinobi. Most don't actually make the cut, and it's best to weed them out now than to have them killed off by bandits, right? Of course if you're not confident in your abilities you can always quit now and attend the academy again for another year of study."

"NO WAY!" Once again, at earsplitting volume. "Forehead-girl would _never_ let me hear the end of it. We'll take the test, and pass it! And if you two make me fail, then so help me I will make your lives a living _hell_."

**'Wow. Feisty one, isn't she kit?'**

Naruto shrugged, simultaneously acknowledging both speakers, internal and external, and Shino merely raised his eyebrows.

"You're all sure? Very well then. This mission will be testing your skill in both information retreival and your aptitude for learning. There's a scroll in the Hokage's office... you'll recognize it immediately, it's marked 'FORBIDDEN'. Your mission is to retrieve it and escape unharmed. The Hokage has been informed, and will treat you the same as any other intruder... don't let him catch you or he'll summon ANBU. Once you have the scroll take it to training ground 83... the one with the hill, Naruto knows where it is... And learn at least one Jutsu from the scroll before I arrive. Once I arrive, I'll take the scroll and return it to the Hokage and the mission ends. If you get caught in the tower, you fail. If you get caught with the scroll, you fail. If I arrive, and you can't each demonstrate a Jutsu you learned from the scroll? You fail. Now do you see why this test has such a high failure rate?"

Ino's jaw was hanging wide open, in awe of how tricky this test sounded. Even Shino looked slightly discomfited. Naruto, however, only looked somewhat speculative, and glanced at the tower.

"The mission begins at sundown.. If I were you three, I'd rest up now and eat a good sized meal beforehand. I'll see you later."

Leaves swirled around Mizuki as he disappeared, leaving the three of them staring at the spot he'd occupied until Naruto nodded and turned to leave before pausing and turning his head back towards his teammates.

"We meet here, ten minutes before sundown."

xxx

The hours were occupied in different ways by each of the three.

Ino spent the rest of the morning working in her families flower shop before napping in the afternoon and eating a quick meal of leftover chow mein.

Shino napped first, then ate half a green melon and spent some time meditating in the center of a buzzing swarm of Kikai.

Naruto... the bodies of two successful drug dealers would be found in an alley the next day, mangled as the ANBU had come to expect.

The sun is setting.

xxx

"Where is it?"

Shino's eyes darted to the door and Naruto frantically waved his hand at her, signalling to be quieter. Ino huffed lightly, but dropped her voice to a whisper.

"Where is it? It's supposed to be right here..."

"Found it."

The three breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief, ready to continue to the second phase of their mission.

"Ahem."

Or not.

They slowly turned wide eyes to see... The Hokage. In a nightrobe.

"Do explain what you're doing in my office at such an hour. And it better be good."

Naruto coughed sheepishly as he stepped forward, concealing the scroll behind a chair.

"Well Ojiisan... The thing is- **Oiroke no Jutsu**!"

Naruto's form was concealed by a thin veil of smoke that cleared almost instantly, revealing a voluptuous blond woman wrapped in a tight leather bra and skirt combo, licking her lips and leaning forward to expose her cleavage.

"Hokage-sama... I've been a naughty girl... _very _naughty..."

The combination of the figure, the clothes, and the husky, sensual voice proved to be too much for the Sandaime, and he collapsed with blood spurting freely from his nose. Naruto cancelled the jutsu and tossed the scroll to Shino, who seemed slightly dazed.

"Follow me. We have ten minutes at most before he comes around."

They were several blocks away, still hopping from roof to roof when Ino spoke up.

"What the _hell_ was that jutsu? How... Aaargh!"

"I was capitalizing on a weakness."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean!?"

"To be frank, I developed that jutsu on accident after a series of circumstances that I may or may not tell you about later. It's actually a variation on the basic henge, changing the form of the user to, as the name suggests, a sexy girl... the thing is, it's completely tangible."

Ino's eyes widened as she flushed heavily. Shino's cheeks had also pinkened somewhat.

"T-tangible! Y-you mean...?"

"Yes... right down to the plumbing. That's why I don't like to use it... all the hormones shifting around so suddenly and then shifting back gives me a serious headache if I hold it too long. However, there's something about the Hokage that very few people know... he's the third most perverted individual in the whole Land of Fire. That makes it perfect to use against him."

Ino was still flushing heavily, but seemed to understand. Naturally she didn't have to _like_ it to understand. The rest of the trip was silent until they arrived in the training ground.

"Being here again..." Naruto muttered to himself "It brings back memories. Tch. Shino! Open the scroll, we have no way of knowing how long we have until Mizuki arrives. Pick the one that seems the easiest and most useful to you, and then get to work!"

Shino flipped the scroll open and three sets of eyes scanned it quickly, looking for a technique that would jump out at them.

Shino grimaced. There was nothing even vaguely related to insects in this scroll. That could be a... what's this? Close enough. This, he could use.

Ino scanned the scroll nervously. She knew her limits, and so far all of these techniques were far beyond them. She could do the academy jutsu easily, and her clan's mind control jutsu... mind. There. It was perfect.

One of Naruto's eyebrows slowly rose. At least half of this was advanced clone techniques. Kage Bunshin, Mizu Bunshin, poison, acid, smoke, and earth bunshins. Chishio Bunshin. Blood clone. Oh yes that appealed to him.

The three seperated as one, focusing entirely on their training.

xxx

"Iruka!"

Iruka's eyes snapped wide open. Dammit he'd only just gotten to sleep... if this wasn't important he was going to kill the messenger. Assassination attempt on the Hokage importance.

"Iruka, wake up! The Hokage has summoned us... Team eight, Naruto, Shino and Ino... They've stolen the Forbidden scroll!"

Iruka's form literally blurred as he dressed himself and rushed out the door, taking his place in the group gathering outside the tower only seconds before Mizuki caught up to him.

"Hokage-sama, this time he's gone too far!"

"The Forbidden scroll! Our village's secrets!"

"And he tricked two innocent kids into helping him!"

"He has to be punished, he has betrayed us! Kill him!"

"SILENCE!"

The Hokage's bellow immediately stilled the crowd.

"Find them, all three of them, and bring them to me. Alive! Move out!"

The ninja scattered, some to search inside the gates, but most to search outside, in the hopes of picking up a trail.

xxx

Iruka had been scouring the forest for hours... it was no good. He had to stop and think... where would Naruto go? It would be where he felt safest... Given his life so far, where he felt safest would be his favorite place... where was that? Think Iruka!

_Flashback_

_"So Naruto... what's your favorite place in all Konoha?"_

_The young student angled his head to the side, confused._

_"Favorite?"_

_Iruka winced slightly at the question._

_"Favorite is... something you like better than everything else. What place do you like best in all Konoha?"_

_The boy thought for a moment before answering._

_"Training ground 83! It has my... favoritest... memories there."_

_Flashback end_

Iruka turned and loped off towards training ground 83. It wasn't far from the section of the forest he'd been searching, a brisk ten minute walk for a civilian.

He reached it in thirty seconds.

And there they were! He took a deep breath, ready to verbally berate them at the top of his lungs... then paused and released it. They were all breathing heavily, covered with scratches indicative of a heavy training session. Slowly, Naruto's face turned up, eyes focusing on him.

"Iruka-sensei? Did Mizuki send you? You got here fast... we only just finished learning our Jutsu."

"Mizuki? Jutsu? What are talking about?"

"It's what Mizuki-sensei said, Iruka-sensei..." Ino interrupted, still gasping for breath. "Kurenai-sensei wasn't here to give us the final test, so he had to give it himself. We got the scroll, we each learned a Jutsu, now we just have to give it to him to bring back and we pass.

Iruka's finely honed danger sense twanged loudly as he came to a sudden conclusion. Acting quickly, he shoved Ino, knocking her into the crouching and panting Shino and sending them both tumbling, and hurled himself bodily in front of Naruto.

The wet thumps of kunai and shuriken burying themselves into Iruka's flesh seemed to echo across the training grounds as Naruto's eyes widened. Iruka's entire body trembled as he forced himself to remain conscious.

"Mizuki... Mizuki's a... a traitor. Don't... Don't let him have... the scroll."

His message relayed, he gasped and fell into unconsciousness.

"IRUKA-SENSEI, WHAT THE hell... was..."

Ino fell silent, wide eyed at the sight of Iruka, blood pooling around him. Leaves swirled and Mizuki appeared in the middle of the clearing.

"Sorry about that, old friend, but I can't have anyone interfering right now... not even you."

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again all three of the Genin could feel the change in him. He was colder, harder... ready to kill them if necessary.

"Now little brats... give me the scroll!"

"No."

Mizuki's eyes widened, obviously shocked that one of them had had the sheer gall to deny him. Then they narrowed again.

"Uzumaki... heh. I know a secret about you... do you? Did you ever wonder why? Why the villagers seemed to hate you so much? Why they suggested, even ordered, that their children never associate with you, under any circumstances? Why the orphanage threw you out at such a tender age, why the angry mobs, why the murder attempts? The poisoned ramen, the kunai hurled through the window, the venomous snakes left in your bed? Did you ever find out why they hate you so much Uzumaki?"

"Yes. I know."

_That_ set him back, hesitating only a moment.

"I learned long ago... the very night of a certain 'incident' in this training ground. You should recall Mizuki... I'm sure I saw you here!"

Mizuki flinched.

"Yes.. back then. I was there by choice that time... this time..."

He shook his head and his eyes were hard and cold again.

"It doesn't matter. I will have that scroll! Give it to me now! Or face the consequences."

Naruto carefully stood up, staring at Iruka's fallen form. Then his eyes flashed at Mizuki and his hands clenched into fists. Beside him, Shino and Ino rose up as well, tiredly taking up their own fighting stances.

"No? Then die."

Mizuki opened up by launching one of his giant shuriken at Naruto. He ducked, leaving himself open to a rush from Mizuki, but Shino interfered.

"Ninpou: Doku Shuriken."

The sickly green dart of chakra flew from Shino's extended finger, prompting Mizuki to leap to the right, extending one foot to land on a large stone. Or not.

"Shinteki Gigei: Terekinishishu."

Ino's new jutsu jerked the rock about a foot to the right, causing Mizuki to stumble. Naruto was on him instantly, kunai out and slashing for his jugular. Mizuki leaned back, pulling out his own kunai to block Naruto's. A temporary impasse.

"Quickly!" Naruto yelled at his teammates "Grab the scroll and run! Get it to either the Hokage or ANBU, I'll hold him off as long as I can!"

Shino nodded, grabbing the scroll and dashing directly for the Hokage's tower. Ino hesitated a second longer.

"Go!" Naruto yelled again. "You're exhausted, he'll target you first and won't hesitate to kill you!"

Ino bit her lower lip, but turned and ran all the same.

"Heh."

A sudden burst of strength launched Naruto backwards, flipping through the air as he launched one of his kunai at Mizuki's head. It was blocked easily and ricocheted into a tree.

"Clever, brat! By the time I've fought my way past you, they'll be more than halfway there... but you forgot one thing...Now I have no reason to let you live!"

Naruto flashed through a series of handseals before slashing his wrist wide open with a kunai, the blood spraying into the air and taking shape.

"Chishio Bunshin."

Mizuki spluttered, then actually had the gall to begin snickering at him.

"Chishio...? Blood Clone? Leave it to you to pick the most useless skill out of that scroll. A flesh and blood clone is useful, yes, but it can still die... and by sacrificing your own blood you weaken yourself considerably. Even with your rate of regeneration, I bet you're feeling a bit weak. Woozy? Lightheaded? You won't be able to fight in that condition."

Naruto fell to his knees, panting and scowling as Mizuki's words were revealed as the complete truth. Mizuki turned to leap into battle with the clone, missing the way Naruto's pants stopped and turned into a leer as he sank into the ground.

Elsewhere, Sarutobi tossed a cloth over his crystal ball, frowning. Plausible deniability. He knew what was going to happen next, but if anyone asked he could honestly deny seeing it happen. He noted that the timing was almost perfect, as the sound of Naruto's teammates running up the stairs began to echo around the room.

The clone matched Mizuki for a few minutes, but it wasn't long before he got a hit in. Its eyes widened as it slowly looked down to the kunai piercing his chest and back up to Mizuki. Then it ruptured, spraying blood out to cover several square feet of ground as it melted into the earth. Mizuki turned to finish off the origional...

Only he wasn't there.

Grim chuckles echoed out from around the training area, and the panicking Mizuki swirled around several times, trying to decipher where they came from.

"A Genjutsu? No... but wha-AARGH!"

Naruto's hand had emerged from the ground, driving a kunai through Mizuki's calf before he rose back out of the earth.

"B-bastard..."

Naruto's answer was a smirk, and he slowly began pacing towards Mizuki, who was scrabbling his way backwards throught the dirt.

"So... I was right... You really have become... like the she-monster..."

Naruto dispensed with words, lifting Mizuki up by his hair and sinking his fangs deep into his throat. Mizuki struggled lightly before letting loose a wet gurgle and falling still. Naruto gave his head a twist, tearing the flesh of his throat to disguise the fang marks, before pulling his teeth out and staring into the chunnins dead eyes.

"I... see. In death, you've told me everything I need to know. The motivation for your actions... it has been seared into my brain. For what it's worth... I forgive you."

As Naruto gently closed Mizuki's eyes, and whispered something into his dead ears, one could almost think the corpse bore an expression of... relief.

xxx

A.N.

What did Naruto whisper? You'll have to wonder about that...

Anyway, teams are decided, and since I just couldn't leave Naruto without some form of special clone, I made something that suited his vampiric nature a little better. Ah... the other techniques. Doku Shuriken is a small dart of extremely toxic chakra, fired from an extended fingertip. Shinteki Gigei translates roughly to 'mental arts', and Terekinishishu should be obvious.

No omake for this chapter, sorry.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

xxx

Naruto glanced at the sky. It was early... only an hour or so until dawn. The old man had kept him long after his teammates had gone to their homes, grilling him on what he'd done to Mizuki, and making sure he knew what the implications would be if he was ever caught with his fangs in someones throat. Regardless of the fact that he and his master had only fed on the dregs of society, mainly criminals, and now, a traitor... the villagers already saw him as a monster... did he want to give them a valid reason to?

Naruto had just shrugged. Things were different now... truthfully he found it difficult to think of the bull headed villagers as more than headstrong cattle. Cattle belonging to another, but cattle nontheless. Such a difference between being called a monster, and being a monster in truth. He simply couldn't care less what the cattle did, or said... The old man had been less than pleased when he pointed this out.

He dropped his gaze from the fading stars. This would have to be quick if he wanted to be back by the time the old man had specified to meet the team's Jounin-sensei. Quickly then...

He hopped down from the tree, landing easily and casually striding through the door to the dingy, dark building, glancing around for only a moment before seating himself at a table where everyones faces were hid in deep hoods. He gestured to a bored looking barman, holding out his own... special mug. The barman filled it with the house specialty... a rancid brew that stank to his powerful senses of dog piss and other, less mentionable things. Fortunately he wouldn't have to drink it, a trick he'd picked up from a novel he'd read once. The mug had a small hole drilled through the bottom, which he set over one of the many cracks running through the table... the seedy bar's floor was covered in dirt and sawdust that would quickly absorb the fetid liquid. He let it drain for a few moments before lifting it and feigning a sip, setting it back down quickly to get the reek as far as possible from his sensitive nose.

"Huh... Aren't you... a bit young to be drinking in a place like this?"

Perfect. Naruto narrowed his eyes in feigned anger before letting loose an aggrieved sigh.

"Must everyone I meet comment on my height... or lack of it?"

He lifted the mug again, feigning another sip.

"In any case, I don't frequent this place often... I simply recieved word that someone here was offering to sell a... special acquisition. Naturally, I was most interested."

Everyone at the table lifted their mugs at once, mulling it over.

"You're a bit early... It's going to be a few hours before we know whether or not to sell at all... and then we all want to... sample the goods first."

Naruto slowly arched an eyebrow.

"Ah? If you're waiting for a certain someone to come through with the goods... he's not going to show. He was caught with his hands in the cookie jar... they may still be 'questioning' him, or they may have learned everything they need already. I hear Konoha's interrogators are first rate."

The cloaked figures began shifting nervously, obviously uneasy at the prospect of facing off against a team of trained shinobi. Naruto faked another sip, pleased that the disgusting brew had almost fully drained away.

"Why are you all so worried? Konoha is tied up in paperwork... in all likelyhood we have plenty of time... perhaps not to play, but plenty of time to conduct our business and leave... and the sooner we're finished, the longer we have to cover our tracks, yes?"

The group stared into their mugs before one slowly rose from his seat, prompting another and another to rise.

"Follow us please."

Naruto tilted his head down as he rose, the wide brim of his hat concealing his smirk.

Foolish cattle.

xxx

Twenty minutes till dawn, and the group of hooded individuals were standing by, fidgeting at soft noises while their apparent leader fiddled with the locks on the old shed door. He'd made a couple of clones for backup, and they were keeping themselves amused by transforming into small animals and making loud rustling noises in the leaves. It was childish, but he had to admit that it was rather amusing to watch the way the cloaked figures would start and jerk their heads to where the noise came from, only to heave a relieved sigh when a squirrel or puppy would show itself.

Ah... he's done. Seven locks... not exactly inconspicuous. More than two locks to a door is just asking for some overly curious burglar to start wondering just what someone kept in that shed, that they wanted noone else to see.

The door swung open, revealing a cell inside. A small meal was left, half eaten on the floor, and a silver-haired girl lay on a cot facing the wall, wearing a dirty, tattered shift. A heavy looking manacle and length of chain fettered her to the cot.

"Well now... Miyuki-chan. It seems your dear brother has failed to come through on our little deal. Such a pity."

Unseen, the two clones dropped the animal illusions before changing their features slightly, aging themselves and changing the color of their hair to light blue and red. In seconds, they bore nearly no resemblance to the original.

"Turn around girl... the customer wants to see the goods."

Miyuki slowly stood and turned, tearstained eyes obvious against her pale face.

"You see? Lass is quality... untrained, but she comes from a minor ninja clan. The bloodline apparently didn't manifest in her generation, but you might be able to breed a few..."

The spokesman fell silent as waves of malice began rolling off his 'customer'.

"Hmmm... Hmhmmm... Indeed. I have it, the perfect payment for you..."

The hooded thugs stepped back as he pulled off his hat, revealing blonde hair... and glowing red eyes.

"I'll give you a mercifully swift death!"

The spokesman was paralyzed with terror, but the others were quick to scatter... or try to anyway, as the clones withdrew kunai and sliced them to ribbons. Their screams elicited a whimper from the spokesman as Naruto's grin grew slightly wider.

"No... I've got a better idea..."

His fist flashed forwards, knocking the last man out, then glanced at the shocked Miyuki. Shrugging, he heaved the thug over his shoulder and turned pacing towards the door before pausing to turn and look back over his shoulder and toss a key to land next to Miyuki's foot. She wasted no time in unlocking her shackles, but seemed wary of approaching her rescuer.

"Are you coming?"

There was a long silence, ended by Naruto placing his hat back on his head.

"Suit yourself... but I think your brother would be happy to see you again."

Miyuki's eyes widened, and suddenly she was stumbling as fast as she could after the boy in the trenchcoat.

Dawn broke.

xxx

"We're here."

Miyuki paused just behind Naruto, glancing around in confusion. As far as she could tell, this section of the forest was just like the rest they'd passed by. The thug groaned lightly, and Naruto socked him in the head, silencing him.

"Where? There's nothing here..."

Naruto glanced at her, then shrugged and walked to the side, where a slope of ground cut off into a very short cliff. He set his hand against it, judging something, then moved three feet to the right and parted the hanging lichens revealing a small cave mouth.

"What? A cave? I thought..."

"Please just... stop talking. Your voice is beginning to grind on my nerves."

Miyuki's eye began to slowly twitch, and her hand balled into a fist, but Naruto had already stepped into the cave. She sighed and made to follow, only to be stopped by one of Naruto's clones dropping from a tree in front of her.

"Wait here."

Miyuki sighed, but sat down on a rock to wait.

Inside the cave, Naruto had let the thug drop to the ground, and was repeatedly striking a kunai against a piece of flint. Eventually the oil-soaked cloth of the torch caught, lighting up the inside of the cave and revealling Mizuki, bound and gagged, but very much alive... sort of anyway. His eyes, once silver, were now a deep, hatred-filled red. Naruto blinked and reached forward, tugging down the gag... and jerking his finger back as Mizuki's head shot forward, jaws clicking tightly shut on air.

"Feisty..."

Mizuki's response was a growl and an enraged glare.

"Oh don't be like that... if I hadn't tied you up, you might have done something foolish. You don't yet know the dangers of your new existence... though I was surprised to discover... a virgin at your age. Most unexpected, but it seems to have worked out for the best. The ANBU checked you out while you were still in the transitory phase, so everyone in Konoha honestly believes you're dead."

"And that's a good thing _how_?"

"Patience Mizuki-kun... I'm getting to it. Had I left you alive, you'd currently reside in the bowels of Konoha's prison systems, where Ibiki would use you to devise new torture techniques... killing you normally would have the obvious drawback of your death. I had a hunch, and it was confirmed the minute I tasted your blood, opening your final surface thoughts to me. I was proven correct... you would never turn traitor... of your own volition. However... everyone has something that they value more than anything else... for those thugs, it was just a matter of finding it. Or rather... her."

Mizuki's eyes widened as he processed that.

"Y-you mean...?"

"I suggest you feed now, after all the trouble I took to bring their ringleader along. After all, while your sister is waiting just outside _you_ are somewhat starved for blood. It would be terrible should any... accidents occur. Best to deal with your new instincts now, than do something you could regret."

Naruto reached down, lifting the thug by the hair and holding him up, near Mizuki's head. Mizuki's eyes widened further, then narrowed as he grit his teeth, fighting back the impulses... but he could still see it, hear the gentle thrum of blood pumping through the man's jugular, almost smell the rich blood flowing through his filthy body...

"You're resisting? Good. It took me several days before I could fully control myself in hunger... it looks like you'll master yourself much faster. But now is not the time for restraint."

He removed a kunai from his coat and gently scratched the man's neck. With the sudden, real scent of blood, Mizuki could no longer resist and hurled himself bodily to the thug, sinking his new fangs deep into his throat.

"You see? You thought you could control yourself, but the second you smelled blood you completely lost it. You have to drink blood to continue existing, but you can't go nuts every time someone scrapes a knee or cuts a finger either. Without my help..."

Naruto blinked wide eyed as he suddenly registered the similarity between this situation and one in his past.

_"Idiot!" Seras screamed, lifting the badly beaten rapist attemptee up towards him. "Feed now, before you go out!"_

_"No!" Naruto yelled back, "I refuse... even someone like him... It's wrong to do this! I won't!"_

_"Idiot!" Seras drew breath to continue her diatribe, then paused as her expression turned crafty, and suddenly she slashed her sharp fingernails across the man's face, hard enough to leave red lines and draw a few drops of blood. Immediately Naruto had crossed the distance between them and sunk his fangs deep into the scum's throat._

_"You see, idiot? Your control isn't good enough yet to spend long amounts of time without feeding. One sniff of blood, and you lose all self-restraint. What happens if you go out at night without feeding, and run into an elite ninja... he's playing with his throwing knives, and he accidentally nicks his finger. If you haven't fed, you won't be able to control yourself and you'll end up attacking him. You're not that strong... only freshly turned. Without my help you're going to die of something stupid, like accidently walking into the sunlight, or going blood-crazy on someone out of your league..."_

_Her expression softened slightly._

_"When I turned you, you became family. You're like a son... or more like a stupid little brother really. I have to look out for you, until you can look out for yourself."_

Naruto shook his head, shaking off the memory. He, unlike his master, lacked the maternal instict to ensure he stuck around to make sure Mizuki actually listened to his advice. If Mizuki did something stupid... it was no concern of his.

"Without my help, you'll do something stupid and die of it. Not that I care, but I do take some responsibility for this situation... otherwise I could have just left you in the woods where ANBU left you and you'd be a goner. Now listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once... Our kind feed off of human blood to 'live'. The thing is, we don't necissarily _have_ to kill the human we feed off of... like you just did... drink a little and leave, and the puncture marks will seal up in under a day. The thing is, if we _do_ kill our victims... Our kind do not typically procreate through breeding... in fact the turning brings a ninety nine percent chance of sterility. Instead, we procreate through the turning. When you drain a human to the point of death, one of two things will happen. If the human was a virgin, pure, then they will become one of us... a vampire. If not... their sanity and morals leave them, creating a Ghoul... a ravening, hungry beast in the shape of a human. Of course we can't have ghouls running about all over the place, now can we? Usually, when you know your victim will become a ghoul, it's wise to finish them off properly before they rise. A ghoul has only two weak points, the heart and the brain. A ghoul can survive as a limbless torso as long as the head is mostly attached and the heart and brain are undamaged... so..."

Naruto's hand plunged into the dead mans chest, gripping the heart firmly before jerking it out savagely.

"Just to be on the safe side."

Mizuki's jaws slipped, and the corpse slumped to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked down at his hands, and then raised them to feel the warm blood trickling down his chin.

"Oh don't give me that 'mental breakdown' bullshit. You were a shinobi, right? So you're no stranger to the idea of killing people for money. Now, you're killing people to keep yourself alive. It's not much different when you think about it."

Mizuki's eyes closed and a shudder passed through his body, but it quickly slowed... then stopped.

"Heh... I guess you're right."

When he opened his eyes, they had returned to his normal shade. Naruto turned and paced toward the opening.

"Come... Your sister is waiting for you."

Mizuki eagerly followed. Mere seconds later, he and his beloved sister were staring one another in the eyes.

"Miyuki... Is it really?"

"Mizuki... I was afraid I'd never see you again..."

"MIYUKI!"

"MIZUKI!"

They leapt at one another, arms outstretched, only to come to a screeching halt as each blood clone casually placed one hand in front of their faces.

"Mizuki... you remember when I said 'without my help, you'll do something stupid and die of it'? You were about to do something _extremely_ stupid."

"What? I can't hug my sister now? Is affection like a slow poison or something?"

Naruto sighed at Mizuki's enraged tone.

"Not at all Mizuki-kun... It's just _where_ you were about to hug her that concerns me. But then you still don't know, do you... Shit. But then again, the best explanation for this comes through demonstration... Watch closely, I'm only going to put myself through this once."

Naruto held out his left hand, then in one smooth motion, tore off his glove. For almost a full second it was a normal, sunbathed hand... then it began to turn pink, then red, badly sunburned. Then the skin began to flake, and smoke began rising from it, and the flesh began to droop off the maimed appendage. Naruto hissed in pain and tucked the wounded appendage beneath the dark folds of his cloak.

"You see?" he hissed in pain, oblivious to the shocked stares from the siblings. "The more time that passes since you're turned, the longer you can last in the sunlight. After a few decades, it shouldn't bother you much anymore... but you're freshly turned. Imagine what just happened to me, only about a hundred times faster, on every exposed inch of your skin."

Mizuki winced, turning slightly green at the image.

"Alright... as far as I know, that should be... oh yeah, be careful not to touch silver. It'll burn you like fire. Remember that and what I told you in the cave, and you should have no problem getting by... just be careful around people you knew... But then, humans see what they expect to see, and they won't expect you. You should be fine."

Naruto glanced up at the sun level and swore softly.

"Shit... I'm going to be late. Just remember, Mizuki-kun... If you run out of places to hide, my master and I currently inhabit the basement of #13 in the Warehouse district. You're the next best thing to family now... don't be afraid to ask us to put you up for a few days now and again!"

xxx

Yuuhi Kurenai had been looking forward to this. She was a new Jounin, having only passed the test for Jounin-sensei a few months before academy graduation. She wasn't exactly the most powerful Jounin around, but she was the best in the village at Genjutsu, she was a decent teacher, and she actually liked kids, which was more than could be said for some Jounin-sensei.

And her eye was currently twitching in irritation as she waited for her third Genin to show up, over ten minutes late.

Shino arched his head as his swarm began buzzing slightly differently.

"He's here sensei."

The eyes of the two females shot up, first to Shino, then to Naruto who'd just casually stepped around a corner. Kurenai took a breath, ready to chide him for his tardiness, but was interrupted.

"NA-RU-TO! I can't believe you were late! Today's our first day as a team, we get our first missions today! If we fall behind Forehead-girl because of you, I'm going to make you REGRET IT!"

Naruto blinked.

"Ah? I'm sorry Ino-chan, but with all the excitement last night I'm afraid I overslept. And besides... you really shouldn't be worried."

Ino desperately tried to beat back a light flush. So he had tacked on a -chan to the end of her name... so what. She liked Sasuke. Admittedly, Naruto was strong... handsome, under that hat... intriguingly dark and mysterious... Okay, so maybe he was a close second on the _miniscule_ chance that someone else stole the heart of her Sasuke-kun. She blinked as she finally registered the rest of his statement.

"Wait, what? Why shouldn't I worry?"

Shino shifted lightly, posture showing that he, also, wanted to know this.

"Well... Didn't Iruka-kun mention that the Jounin-sensei for Team Seven was Hatake Kakashi?"

"Yeah... so?"

"Well... Perhaps Kurenai-sensei would be a better person to ask... but from what I understand Kakashi makes a point out of being at least two hours late to everything that isn't immediately life threatening... that would include dealing with his Genin squad. It's likely that they'll still be waiting for him for another hour at least."

Ino's eyes widened... and then she started chuckling.

"Yeah! Take that, Forehead! You may have Sasuke-kun on your team, but your teacher is a lazy bum! HA!"

Sweatdrops formed... a tiny one on Shino's head and a somewhat larger one on Kurenai's. Naruto just shrugged inwardly... Maybe it was a human thing that he'd never picked up?

**"I doubt that kit... maybe its just her?"**

Meh.

"Alright you two... now that Naruto is finally here, lets introduce ourselves. I'll begin. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, and this is my first time training a Genin squad. I like sushi and the color red, and I dislike tardiness, perverts, and unfounded arrogance. I don't really have any hobbies, and my dreams are a little personal. Now... How about you next Ino?"

Ino blinked.

"Er, me? Well... My name is Yamanaka Ino... I like flowers and my favorite Jutsu is the Shintenshin... though I just learned another interesting one recently... I dislike BILLBOARD-BROWED BRATS who want to steal my Sasuke-kun. Hobbies... does working in my families flower shop count? As for my dream..."

She broke off into a giggle, increasing the size of the sweatdrops and making Naruto arch a single eyebrow.

"I... see. You next, in the grey coat."

Shino shifted his posture slightly before answering.

"Aburame Shino. Likes, Insects. Dislikes, loud noises, people who behave completely illogically. Hobbies, caring for and training with Kikai. Dreams..."

He trailed off and declined to continue.

"Oh... Okay then, and you?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, before shrugging and saying his piece.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Likes and dislikes...? There are things I like, and things I don't. Let's leave it at that. Hobbies... I'm not sure whether or not I actually have one... And as for my dream... I suppose you'll find out sooner or later on your own... telling you outright would just take all the fun out of it."

The reactions were mixed. Shino was eying him speculatively, and for a moment, Ino went starry eyed... ah. His Glamour was beginning to act up. He forced it down, and the stars left Ino's eyes, leaving her with only a slightly interested glance in his direction. Kurenai's thoughts though... they were different.

She'd taken the liberty of flipping through her Genin's profiles... so far, Ino and Shino had matched perfectly... but Naruto was nothing like he was supposed to be. The profile had him listed as a sunny, outgoing, loud boy who wore a ridiculously bright orange jumpsuit out of habit. The sort of kid one would call a class clown... The profile had also listed that his lifelong dream was to become the Hokage... and that he would waste no time making sure everyone knew it. Granted, the profile for him was several years out of date... but to change so much, so fast? That was nigh unheard of, even the Uchiha boy hadn't changed so much, and he'd gone through a severely traumatizing experience. Psychological trauma... could he have? She tucked the thought into the back of her mind, something to ask the Hokage about later.

"Hmm... anyway, now is when I'm supposed to test you to see if you can actually make it as a ninja... but I was briefed on the incident last night, and I was quite impressed. Even though you were easily tricked, you performed exceptionally well under the circumstances. Mizuki was ranked Chunnin, but that's only because he never felt it necessary to continue on to Jounin rank. I'm frankly surprised you did as well as you did against him... it's almost like he didn't really want to win... but traitors do tend to have second thoughts. In any case, that performance should more than qualify you, so... We'll begin with a few easy missions, and once you're done, meet me in training ground number 31."

She tossed three small sheets of paper at them and used the Shunshin to teleport away in a swirl of leaves... but not too far. She wanted to see their reactions to their first mission.

"WHA- What the hell! What kind of missions are these!"

A sweatdrop finally made its way onto Naruto's head.

"Walking the dogs for the Inuzuka clan?"

Shino tilted his head as he read the one he'd picked up.

"Trash disposal?"

"What the HELL kind of mission is finding a lost cat? It's ridiculous!"

"And they're all time consuming."

Naruto's teammates blinked at his odd comment.

"Huh?"

"These... pointless chores... take up far too much time. If we do them one at a time, it'll be well into the afternoon by the time we finish, and we won't have as much time for practice. It would make more sense for each of us to take one chore, and do them all at once... then we would have more free time to hone our skills. Unless Sakura-san is far more foolish than I had given her credit for, she will spend the time otherwise wasted waiting for her sensei in training."

One of Kurenai's eyebrows arched. There had been nothing in his profile about him being so manipulative either... he had immediately taken control of the team once she left, and used just the right combination of logical thought for Shino and subtle taunting of the possibility of Ino's 'rival' slipping ahead of her to leave both of them not only agreeing, but pleased with his decisions. That sneaky little bastard.

Maybe he still wanted to be Hokage after all.

xxx

Shino was starting to sweat heavily, not only from the effort, but from the heat of the nearby flames. Having the natural proportional strength of the insects living within him was good, but this was beginning to wear on him. He leaned slightly forward, shaking the large crate he was carrying to spill its contents into the fire pit. There we go... only five or six more cratefuls and his task would be completed.

Shino suppressed the desire to groan.

xxx

"Here kitty, kitty..."

Ino's tone was pleasant enough, but her eye was repeatedly twitching and her face had been covered with a fine web of red scratches. That cat... it was a furry little demon, that lived only to torment her. She'd come close to catching it twice, but it would leap out of her hands and scratch and bite and claw before darting off again in a random direction. Ino was dangerously close to just launching a kunai at the thing and saying she'd found it in the woods behind a targeting ground. There it is... the cat had stopped to drink from a tiny brook. Ino wasted no time in leaping for the little monster while it was off guard.

"Come to Ino, Tora-chan!"

xxx

Uzumaki Naruto stared at the dogs.

The dogs stared back. There were more than a dozen of them, and they were all large breeds. The girl that seemed to be in charge here... what was her name... Hina? Hara? Something like that... she was standing behind him, and he could swear that he felt her smirk bore into him.

"You sure you want to walk them all at once? These are big dogs... Strong. I'm not sure a midget like you can handle them."

Concealed beneath his hat brim, his eyes flashed crimson. The dogs saw, and began growling at him.

"You see? They already hate you... still no? Whatever... I'll be waiting with the first aid kit."

He glared at her... Hana, that was her name... as she sauntered off smugly. Then once she'd left, he turned back to the dogs and his glare turned into a malevolent leer.

"I was waiting for her to leave. Now then... We're not going to have any... problems... are we?"

While he was talking, he released a focused burst of his hunger aura... he'd fed recently, so it wasn't as effective as it could be, but it was more than enough to start the dogs whimpering and cringing as he reached for the leashes.

xxx

"I HATE cats!"

"I must admit... that my chore was less than pleasant."

The two paused, then turned to Naruto, as if they were expecting something. He blinked and then shrugged.

"Hmm... I don't care much for dogs... but they're easy enough to deal with once they know who's boss."

Shino grimaced and Ino hung her head, running her fingers along the scratches. Thankfully they weren't deep enough to scar... she didn't know what she would do if she scarred her face. Shino had nearly worn himself out working alone, Ino had to deal with a demon-cat, and Naruto... it wasn't fair. Naruto was only mildly inconvenienced by his chore... was she... really that weak?

Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves, interrupting Ino's gloomy introspection.

"Well... you're all here earlier than I'd expected. No matter. Lets begin with something easy... tree walking."

Ino blinked.

"Ah... Kurenai-sensei? I'm pretty sure I know how to climb trees."

"That's tree-_climbing_ Ino-chan... this is tree-_walking_. There's a big difference... but let me show you."

Kurenai turned and walked directly at a tall tree, but rather than stopping, she placed one foot on the trunk, then another, and calmly walked straight up the side of the tree, and onto the underside of a branch, completely defying the law of gravity. Ino was extremely impressed, as was Shino, but less obviously... Naruto not so much. This didn't interest him at all... he could do something extremely similar with his vampiric abilities. Then again... while the effect was the same, it was achieved through completely different means. The vampiric ability was a variation on phasing. Instead of phasing all the way, the user would only phase partially, sinking into something just far enough to latch on, while forcefully changing the weight of your own body to change the effects of gravity. As he listened to Kurenai explain just how to tree-walk, he took note of the differences. This technique would use carefully regulated chakra to stick to the surface of the tree, with only speed and inertia to fight off the effects of gravity. In some way's more useful... and in some ways less.

But to control the chakra to such an extent... even a small amount of demonic chakra or vampiric energy would distrupt the flow. His energy would be no problem... in the full sun, he'd have to struggle to bring out even a little vampiric power... and as for the demonic chakra...

'Kyuubi... is it ready?'

**"Hmph... you're a pain, little kit. Asking me to do something like this... do you have any idea how complicated that thing is?"**

'I don't care... is it ready, or not?'

**"Oh it's ready... I wouldn't call it finished, but it's ready enough for something like this. You got guts though kid... I remember when you were screaming in pain when I started making them. A second set of chakra coils and tenketsu, specially suited for my chakra, with a group of central nodes where the chakra blends evenly and smoothly on its own, rather than spiking out randomly from the seal. Something like this... burning even _one_ new chakra coil... it would be enough to drive a human your age mad with agony..."**

'Save it... why does it matter how the cattle would deal with the pain? I am human no more. Do it.'

**"If you say so... you may feel a slight twinge... actually I forget, now that you're a leech, can you even feel pain?"**

'Ah... the pain receptors in the nervous system are dulled somewhat from what I understand... but I do still feel pain, it's just not as intense.'

**"Oh... in that case I take it back... you're going to feel a slight twinge _now_... In a few hours, once my chakra has begun to fully circulate around and work its way through your system, it's going to feel like a thousand hungry scorpions are eating their way through your body."**

Naruto's eye twitched slightly, but he accepted the description. The Kyuubi had had years to familiarize itself with his internal workings. He knew what would work and what wouldn't, what could be budged slightly to make work better, and exactly how much something would hurt. He didn't even flinch as a sharp, stabbing pain in his navel signified the redirection of Kyuubi's chakra to the new coils.

Instead he lifted the kunai that had thumped into the ground next to his feet and began the slow trek up the tree trunk.

xxx

A.N.

Alright... first, I checked on chakra. A reviewer said that chakra was 'the energy of life', and as such Naruto, an undead vampire, shouldn't have any. There's several ways for me to mess with that... I could, for instance, say that he absorbs chakra along with blood. My real excuse, however, is that from what I understand after reading the manga, chakra is _not_ the energy of life, and as far as I know is never referred to as such. In the manga, chakra is referred to as a composite of physical and spiritual energy... life and unlife don't really enter into the eqation. If so, take a look at Sasori, who made himself into a puppet... technically he's not really alive anymore. So if chakra _was_ life energy, then how could he create chakra strings to control his other puppets? Simple... he wouldn't be able to. So letting Naruto keep his chakra shouldn't be too difficult to swallow, should it?

Someone asked if, since Kekkei Genkai are passed through bloodlines, would drinking the blood of someone with a Kekkei Genkai allow Naruto to use the bloodlines abilities, even temporarily? ... I'm going to say 'maybe'. Haven't decided yet. I'm leaning yes though, which is why I've given Mizuki and his sister a dormant and as-yet unspecified bloodline... and if I do, then I'm going to do something that would seem awesome at first for Naruto, but will actually turn out to be really useless and annoying, just to mess with him. Like maybe having him be able to talk to animals... only to find out that most animals have absolutely nothing to say.

Ah... I'm giving up on writing omake for this. I tried a couple, but they really, really sucked. If someone wants to send an omake via PM, I'll see about putting it in, but I'm not going to write any more on my own. Of course I don't really care.

Review! You know you want to...


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter four

xxx

Naruto was sleeping, and he intended to stay that way for as long as possible. For two reasons. First, the pain of forcing Kyuubi's chakra into the new coils had finally hit and, as Kyuubi had said, it was like thousands of scorpions eating him from the inside out. Only worse. While he was asleep, he didn't feel the pain.

Second, he had dreamt himself up a kitchen and had made himself a personaly delicacy... Instant ramen boiled in fresh blood... it was delicious, but was difficult to make in real life because of the hassle of keeping his prey alive long enough to drain them into a pot. In his dreamscape, the blood was warm and rich and pure and wouldn't coagulate, so he could just lift one of the bottles out of the cupboard and pour it into the pot.

_'Police Girl'_

He'd already finished up the first pot, and was working on the second. Just a few minutes more and it would have cooled down enough to eat.

_'Police Girl'_

All in all, this was one of his better dreams.

_'Police girl_'

However, _that_ was getting really annoying, really quickly.

_'Police Girl!'_

"Will you _shut up_ already? I'd think that I could be alone in my dreams if I want."

_'... You are not the Police Girl.'_

"I'm not _any_ kind of girl, most of the time anyway."

_'So, the Police Girl has sired a childe... how unexpected. Hmm... and now that I can see, such an interesting childe indeed.'_

"Now that what now?"

_'If you had ignored me, I would have eventually had to leave. Now that you have acknowledged me, I can see who I'm speaking to... and if you would drop your illusions, you could see me.'_

Naruto sighed and glanced longingly at the bubbling pot of red-stained noodles. With a wave of his hand it, and the kitchen, dispersed into nothingness, leavin him alone.

Or rather, almost alone.

The man in the red coat was grinning widely... maybe he hadn't thought Naruto would know how to control the dream.

_'I have had many names,'_ he said, voice still retaining the odd, echoey quality it had had in the dream kitchen. _'But most recently, I have been known as Alucard. Greetings, childe of my childe.'_

Great... another voice in his head. Like one wasn't enough.

Alucard erupted in laughter... oh, yes. An interesting childe indeed.

xxx

Naruto's eyes snapped open, the odd man... his grandsire's laughter still echoing in his ears. He considered getting up for a moment, then decided against it. Seras was clutching at him and drooling in her sleep, and he would have to wake her up to escape the bed. Knowing how grouchy she could get when woken prematurely, he resigned himself to several more hours as her living teddy bear.

Most humans would be shocked at how casually the two shared a bed, especially as their relationship was closer to a mother and child than anything else. For vampires, however, it wouldn't garner a second glance. Given the fact that out of a randomly selected group of one hundred thousand vampires, one or two _might_ not be completely sterile, vampiric communities had next to no taboos. In a large gathering, it would be almost expected to see a couple or two that had been parent and child, or siblings, in life. The odds of them both being fertile were simply too astronomical to contemplate, and so wasn't. Apparent age differences, also, didn't garner a fuss, as what looked like a middle aged woman and a teenage man could really be a vampire that had been around for the last millenium and his newest thrall.

Appearances were very seldom the reality. For instance, the reason the two were sharing a bed was that at first, they'd only managed to scrape together enough money to buy a single bed. Once they'd gotten around to buying the next one, it had gone unused as, for whatever reason, the two had become more comfortable sleeping in the same bed than alone.

Naruto glanced at the ceiling. He could feel the sun rising, despite there being no clocks or windows nearby. One more perk of vampirism. He slowly began disentangling himself from his sire, despite the... unnatural feeling being awake during the day gave him. Technically, neither he nor Seras had to sleep, but during the daylight hours both would be extremely lethargic. A drawback of naturally being nocturnal.

He took a moment to dress himself, carefully making sure that not an inch of skin below his neck was exposed before adding his wide-brimmed hat. He'd had to have most of his outfit custom tailored, to fit his small frame, and the expense had made him almost glad that even Kyuubi wasn't able to make him grow much larger. He was able to stimulate the growth hormones that undeath usually made completely dormant, but only somewhat. At best, Naruto would grow another eight to ten inches, still leaving him very short. He groaned mentally... his height had always been a sore spot for him, and now he would have to deal with it for the rest of eternity.

That sucked.

He sighed as he stepped out of the warehouse, the dim morning light washing over his leather-clad form. It was a couple more hours yet before his team was expected to meet, but he had an appointment with the old man.

xxx

Sarutobi paused for a moment in writing his paperwork as a large spot on his wall faded into shadow and Naruto stepped out of it. He set down his pen and steepled his fingers.

"I assume you have information for me?"

Few had come to the conclusion that Naruto was behind the sudden rash of murders among Konoha's... less savory underbelly. Of those few, none realized that it was the Sandaime himself that picked and chose his targets. Old Sarutobi had felt guilty at first about using the youngling in such a manner, but had gotten over it in true shinobi fashion by means of a week-long bender.

Besides... as long as he arranged to keep the boy and his 'guardian', as she was listed in official documents now, fed... they wouldn't be taking their hunger out on the more foolish, but relatively innocent townsfolk.

"You'll be interested to hear this old man... apparently that fat pimp was more than he seemed."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Heh... You'll love this. Orochimaru is planning something for the Chunnin exams in Konoha."

Sarutobi sat up straighter, even as his face lightly paled.

"Orochimaru...? Are you certain?"

"The information has been burned into my mind, old man. That pimp was one of the snake's favorite spies among this cities darker elements. He'd been sending him information on secret access routes to the village for the past year."

"... Do you have names of any other spies."

"Sadly, no. Orochimaru is paranoid... none of his spies know the names of any of the others. It was sheer chance to find this one."

He turned to the wall, but paused as the Hokage pointed at the door. Shrugging, he decided to humor the man, just this once. He paused, hand on the doorknob, as he turned back for a moment.

"Old man... I think it best for my team to begin taking C-ranks. We both know that I'm ready for the Chunnin exam, but they need more... experience."

The Sandaime nodded, still deep in thought, as Naruto left and dissolved into darkness in the empty hall.

A C-rank mission. Hmm... he glanced down at his paperwork. He had just the thing. Protect a bridge builder from thugs and low level criminals until his bridge is complete. Simple and easy, perfect practice for a genin squad with as much potential as Naruto's.

That settled, he moved on to the next most important thing... sifting through the newest stack of papers for the inevitable false forms that, with application of his signature, would hand over all his powers and responsibilities to the council. They'd been at it for years, and every day there would be at least another dozen tries. He had to give them points for persistence, at least.

xxx

Of course, Tazuna wasn't so happy with the selection of the team at all. Not at all. A shrimp in leather, two more squirts, and a woman. He and Kurenai didn't hit it off at all, by which one could interpret that he was drunk and kept hitting on her, she didn't like it and slapped him, and so they hated each other's guts at first sight. The two hadn't stopped arguing since then.

This was a bad thing, as it distracted Kurenai enough that she didn't notice the subtle Genjutsu over the puddles at the edge of the road as she passed. Only watching for civilian level bandits, none of her students were looking for ninja tricks and they completely missed the puddles that were where no puddles should be. Ino actually walked through them as she nattered on obliviously about 'her Sasuke-kun', being completely ignored by the male portion of her team.

The demon brothers rose slowly from the puddles, clutching at their aching heads. After a moment, they began communicating with silent hand signals.

_Kill the girl first?_

_Definitely. But slowly... ruin her good looks, then leave her dying of the poison._

_And the sensei?_

_Not combat specialist... we take her next, then the two brats, then the old man. Easy._

_Lets go._

Naruto, at least, realized something was wrong the second he heard the slight sound of cloth against cloth behind them. Shino's bugs suddenly began buzzing angrily, warning of the attack. And Kurenai finally convinced Tazuna to shut up for long enough to realize that something was wrong. All three turned at the same time, prompting Ino to do the same, which she would later realize was a mistake. She should have realized that them looking back meant something dangerous was behind her, and run to hide behind them.

Instead, she turned just in time for sharp metal claws to rake across her face, spouting a splash of crimson life-fluid. Naruto felt his fangs growing at the sight, and the smell was so tempting... No. Now was not the time. He lunged at the ninja, followed only a second later by Shino, and, slightly less impulsively, Kurenai. Neither of them were in time to join the fight as, violently, Naruto grabbed the demon brothers by their heads and smashed them together.

They splattered like overripe watermelons.

Shino and Kurenai paused to stare at the grotesque display as Naruto moved swiftly to check Ino. She was jerking in a seizure, and a small amound of green foam had collected at the corner of her mouth. Shit.. Poison. That was bad... compared to that the maiming, and obviously painful, loss of her left eye was a secondary concern.

"Shino, my pack, the med kit, the blue syringe. Antivenom, NOW!"

Shino obeyed without blinking, and had the requested item in seconds. Naruto snatched it out of his hands, pulling the rubber plug off the tip and depressing the plunger just enough to get the air bubble out.

"Quickly, put somethin hard in her mouth, or she might bite through her tongue. As fast as this poison is progressing, I'll have to inject directly into her heart for the antivenom to be spread fast enough to counter it. Move it. And hold her still... if I miss the heart, the poison will kill her."

Tazuna stumbled up, pale, and gently crammed a thick bit of wood in the girl's mouth, and stepped back as Shino removed his jacket, stuffing it under Ino's head to protect her from the rocks she was dangerously close to smashing it against, then held her shoulders down. Naruto removed a kunai from his own coat as he sat on the girl's stomach, and used it to carefully slice open her dress, revealling the pale flesh of her ribs. He took a moment to aim properly, then injected the entire content of the syringe into her heart.

Almost immediately the thrashes had slowed, then came to a halt as she passed out from the pain. The entire procedure had lasted perhaps thirty seconds, and Kurenai had been paralyzed with shock for most of them. She had only just made Jounin, and to see a child kill so casually...

It was horrifying to her.

She shook herself and forced herself to move, dimly realizing that had her student's fate rested in her managing to do what Naruto had just did, she would be less one student. That thought too, scared her.

"Kurenai-sensei! Can you use Shunshin?"

She nodded at Naruto's question, not seeing the point at first, but realizing it had to be pertinent. She was correct.

"Then take Shino and Ino back to Konoha. Shino will take her to the hospital... The poison should be mostly taken care of, but I think she's going into shock and she needs to have her face looked at by a skilled healer. You go to the Hokage, and let him know that I said, and I quote... 'until eternal silence'. He'll know what it means."

Kurenai obviously had no idea what it meant but, despite the bad taste taking orders from her subordinate gave her, she saw the neccessity behind them and, with a swirl of leaves, the three were gone. Naruto turned to the pale Tazuna, layering his voice with vampiric hypnosis.

"You will tell me everything I need to know."

"I will tell you everything you need to know."

And he did.

xxx

Meanwhile, Kurenai had left Ino with the bug user,as he spared only a moment to put his coat back on before lifting her limp and bleeding form and dashing to the hospital. She herself headed to the Hokage's office, still slightly confused as to why she was obeying the orders of one of her genin.

Sarutobi himself was surprised when Kurenai barged into his office, as he had sent her and her team off that morning on a mission that he had known would last the better part of a month.

"Hokage-sama... there was a disturbance as the mission began. Two Chunnin-level ninja attacked at a point several miles out of Konoha, and managed to severely injure and poison one of my genin before being eliminated."

The Sandaime was immediately at attention, in full business mode.

"Which one, and how were they eliminated. Tell me everything."

She recounted the entire incident, from their attack, catching them off guard, to Naruto's brutal offense, which Sarutobi seemed to be slightly surprised by but really wasn't, and finishing with the way that Naruto had worked quickly to save his teammate's life. That, Sarutobi was slightly surprised about, but acted like he wasn't.

"Also, Hokage-sama, Naruto asked me to tell you... 'until eternal silence'. He said you'd know what he meant... Hokage-sama?"

The old man had gone pale and slumped back into his seat, mumbling to himself.

"Dear lord... would he really?... I suppose he would have reason... but would... of course he would."

"Hokage-sama? That phrase upsets you... what does it mean?"

Sarutobi sighed and took a deep drag of his pipe before explaining.

"That phrase came from the boy's guardian... an incredibly dangerous woman. What it means is... he's going to kill them. All of them, everyone who had a part in causing Ino's injuries. But before they die he's going to maim, mutilate, and horribly disfigure them, as a warning to others."

Kurenai's eyes widened.

"Hokage-sama, those two were Chunnin! How did he..."

"That's classified."

"But..."

"It. Is. Classified. As is much more about Naruto."

Kurenai slowly settled down, not liking the answer, but accepting it.

xxx

The bridge builder knew a great deal that he had failed to tell the ninja squad. He seemed to have a reason, but Naruto still held a fierce mental debate over whether or not to kill the old man for indirectly causing the entire fiasco. At length, however, he had grudgingly decided to let him live. After all, there was a great many more people just waiting for him to kill.

He easily found the first two only a few more miles down the road. A large, eyebrowless man, face wrapped in bandages, and a boy wearing a Kiri Hunter-nin mask. It was an obvious deception, as neither of them were trying to kill each other as they waited patiently for the arrival of his team.

He flowed back down through the ground until he was out of sight of the duo, then slashed his wrist open to create five Chishio bunshins. A normal human only had enough blood to spare to create one at a time, but vampire physiology was different, and the fat pimp that had been his last target had hired half a dozen Yakuza-wannabe rabble as bodyguards. He'd drained every one dry, and the bunshin barely made a dip in his internal blood stores.

Without a word they altered their appearance, and he nodded at the perfect rendition of his team and the bridge builder. Tazuna even reeked of cheap sake. Without a word to him, they continued on the road, directly towards the ambush, acting exactly as they had before the first attack. Bunshin-Ino was nattering on about Sasuke, Bunshin-Kurenai and Tazuna were arguing about something, and Bunshin Shino and Naruto were ignoring them both. The real Naruto merged with the shadows beneath the trees and followed them.

Bandage-man opened the ambush impressively by hurling his ridiculously large sword at them just as the sun began to dip over the horizon. And then stared in shock as none of the clones bothered to dodge, but just stood there, grinning, as they were mowed down.

Normal blood clones would erupt into a gout of blood when destroyed. With some experimentation, though, he had managed to merge just a touch of vampiric energies into the clones, rendering them more... versatile. The 'dead' clones began moaning, and dragging themselves along the ground towards bandage-man, even as the trails of blood began to solidify into tendrils, waving in the air as though seeking him out. Bandage-man was frozen, horrified, and muttering to himself.

"Genjutsu... it has to be genjutsu. Kai... KAI!"

With a dull throb of fear, he realized that the genjutsu wasn't dispelling, and he tore his sword out of the tree, to begin wildly swinging it at the monsters. Masked boy jumped out of his tree to help by throwing needles at the false ghouls, for all the good it did. As they surrounded him, bandage-man tried to leap out of the circle, only for his foot to be caught by a flailing tendril of blood, and slammed him into the ground, where the false ghouls pounced on him, biting and flailing at him with sharp teeth and nails.

"ZABUZA-SAMA!" Mask-boy screamed, as he made hand symbols and literally froze the false ghouls in their position. They cracked and splintered as the bandaged man, Zabuza, slowly rose to his feet, facing away from his masked accomplice.

"Zabuza-sama... thank kami, I thought... Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza had begun to moan in a deep, low voice as he turned slowly around, feet shuffling against the dirt and blood. The first thing the masked boy noticed was the eyes, empty and dead. The second was the deep wounds to his torso and stomach, where his intestines and innards were poking out. The third was that he was swinging his sword up, in preperation for an overhand chop, completely ignoring the way the motion tore at his flesh and caused his guts to spill out all over the dirt road.

"ZABUZA-SAMA!"

xxx

Naruto grinned at the success of his plan. Not only did the clone-ghouls perform perfectly, there was the added, and unexpected, benefit of them actually being able to turn the people they killed into real ghouls. That had shaken up his plan somewhat, as he'd intended to finish the two off personally, but it had all worked out in the end. He sent a pulse of dark energy to the ghoul and watched as it slumped to the ground next to a neatly bisected corpse as its heart exploded.

Now on to the final phase of the job... go back to wake up the drunk, have him smuggle him into the land of waves, rest for the day, then find and kill this Gato and all of his thugs. The anticipation of the carnage ahead made him quiver with bloodlust... by tomorrow night, with the loss of blood the clones had cost him, he would be prepared to unleash a berserk frenzy of hunger.

He was looking forward to it.

xxx

Naruto had been right... the effects of the poison, even though it had been neutralized in time, had been just enough to send Ino's system into shock. Fortunately, they had gotten her to a hospital, and experienced med-nin fast enough to keep her from slipping into a coma, but now she was simply drifting in a half-awake, half aware state. Every so often, her hand would drift up to touch the long, rough scars on her face, then drop back down to her side as her eyes glazed slightly.

It was as though she couldn't accept what had happened, was refusing to believe it, and was attempting to use every ounce of her formidable mental power to change the reality.

After a night of doctors slowly monitoring the process, they had ended up having to bring in Ino's father and have him enter her mind. After several hours, he had left the room and calmly declared that there was nothing to do but wait for her to get over it on her own. Thruth be told, he was somewhat disturbed at the discovery that his previously sensible daughter was more worried about her good looks being marred than that she had almost died, and almost as disturbed that it had been the demonspawn, of all the available people, that had immediately stepped forward to save her life.

But on the plus side, with any luck she'd give up on that arrogant Uchiha brat now. It was obvious to every ninja above Chunnin rank that the Uchiha would be more than happy to betray Konoha, and everyone in it, the first time he got the chance and had a reason, logical or not. The idiots on the council seemed to think that giving him everything he wanted would keep him complacent, but what that really did was ensure that he was spoiled, and the first time he was denied anything he wanted, the chances of him turning traitor would increase instead. He believed it would be easier for her if, when the Uchiha brat finally went out of his way to deny her advances in a way that couldn't possibly be misinterpreted, he did it because she wasn't the prettiest of his hangers-on anymore rather than because he was backstabbing everyone in town. With luck, she'd get over it faster, and it would hopefully make her realize what a pretty louse the Uchiha really is.

He couldn't help but scowl as he recalled the tiny crush he'd seen blossoming towards the demonspawn. He liked that almost as little as he liked her crush on the Uchiha, and he was outright disgusted with the fact that he would likely be his precious daughter's 'rebound'. He consoled himself with the fact that the demonspawn didn't seem to be interested in her, then mentally kicked himself as he realized that would ensure she latched onto him the same way she had on Sasuke. It was a lose-lose situation. He locked the door behind him as he made it home and began to drink himself into a stupor.

Her second night in the hospital began much the same as the first, but at about midnight she finally seemed to snap into an aware state... only to touch her face, feel the scars, and break down sobbing. After a few hours of that she fell asleep on her soaked pillow, and didn't wake up until nearly noon. Fortunately, both Shino and her sensei were waiting by her bed as she woke, staving off another onslaught of tears. Although she noticed something immediately, even as the three ignored the sudden fuss the nurses were raising outside.

"Sensei? Where's... Naruto?"

Kurenai frowned before opening her mouth to answer, even as the door slid open to admit a blood-drenched, fiercely grinning Naruto.

"Mission complete, sensei. All hostiles have been eternally silenced."

xxx

A.N. For the people who think Naruto is becoming an 'empty shell' or too much like Alucard, I'd like to explain what I'm doing. This will become clearer as time goes on, but Alucard is something like the epitome of all things vampiric, and once I begin focusing more time on Seras, it will become obvious that her personality has shifted a great deal towards his as well. What I'm working towards is an even blending of a canon Naruto with a new vampiric nature. Hence dreaming about ramen and blood, as I believe that vampires _could_ eat normal food if they wanted to, it just wouldn't nourish them in the same way blood does.

Also, I know you're going to hate me for this, but I've been planning something to make Ino take being a Kunoichi more seriously, and to get her to shut up about Sasuke-kun. The scars will just be the first part in that plan. If you have to know what she looks like now, imagine three gentle white lines trailing down the left side of her face. She may start wearing an eyepatch later as well, or wearing a headband a la Kakashi, or I may decide to go all the way and get her an 'implant'. X-ray vision? Mwuahahaha. Have to think up a name for it though, because I don't want to use the byakugan. But using X-ray vision to look through a wall and then following it up with telekinesis would be awesome.


End file.
